Judge Juan Merchan will preside over Donald Trump's hush money cash scandal
SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA: Judge Juan Merchan who previously oversaw to tax related cases of Donald Trump's companies will preside the hush money scandal as well. Merchan was seen arriving at the Manhattan criminal courthouse shortly before 7 pm on Thursday, March 30.
Meanwhile, Trump would be charged with over 30 counts of business fraud. The indictment against Trump is over the hush-money payments made ahead of the 2016 elections to porn star Stormy Daniels, marking the first-ever criminal case against a former US president.
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Who is Judge Juan Merchan?
Merchan is currently the Acting Justice of the Supreme Court - Criminal Term. He has been presiding over felony level hearings and trials from April 2009. He is also the presiding justice of the Manhattan Mental Health Court and of the Manhattan Veteran's Treatment Court from January 2019. Previously, he worked as a family court judge for Bronx County for three years and also served as Attorney General State of New York for close to seven years.
Merchan also served as the Assistant District Attorney for invesigation and trial divisio for close to five years. He studied at Baruch college in business administration and also studied at the Hofstra University School of Law, graduating in law, according to his LinkedIn profile. He was dressed in a casual grey pants with baseball cap as he reached his office on Thursday, March 30.
Which are the famous cases Merchan is associated with?
Merchan presided over a 2012 case, where woman known as the "soccer mom madam" made international headlines for allegedly running an Upper East Side call girl ring for millionaires.He also presided over the case of the Trump Organization's former chief financial officer, Allen Weisselberg over the tax fraud trial in which the family's company was found guilty on 17 counts including charges of conspiracy and falsifying business records. He was sent five months to jail. Trump will be arraigned on Tuesday, April 4, as per NBC.
What is the statement from Donald Trump?
Trump claimed in an official statement that it was "Political Persecution and Election Interference at the highest level in history." Further, he stated, “I believe this Witch-Hunt will backfire massively on Joe Biden,” the former president said. “The American people realize exactly what the Radical Left Democrats are doing here. Everyone can see it. So our Movement, and our Party – united and strong – will first defeat Alvin Bragg, and then we will defeat Joe Biden, and we are going to throw every last one of these Crooked Democrats out of office so we can MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN," he added, as per CNN.
Meanwhile, Trump's lawyer, Joe Tapocina claimed, “He’s ready to fight. You know, he’s the toughest guy I know. He was shocked, you know because we really weren’t – I was shocked." Further, he added, “I’ve never been more angry about a charge because today, the rule of law in the United States of America died. It’s dead. It’s dead.” “We are discussing with them, you know, obviously, there’s a group called the Secret Service that’s involved now. I mean, this is going to be something we’ve never seen the likes of.”
“We now heard 34 counts, and I guarantee you it’s going to be 34 counts when we find out next week. They’ll take each check and make that a count, perhaps, and that’s how they’ll do it because the checks are paid to Cohen,” added the lawyer. He then claimed, “This will backfire. Because we’re gonna win this case. We will humiliate them, and they will pay the price," as per New York Post.