Who is Judge Juan Merchan in Donald Trump’s Hush Money case?

Former President Donald Trump will face the same judge who last year convicted the Trump Organization of tax evasion in his first possible appearance in a Manhattan court on Tuesday after being indicted in a hush money scandal. and tried financial fraud cases, CBS News Reported

Judge Joan Murchin presided over the guilty pleas and sentencing of the two companies and their chief financial officer, Alan Wesselberg, who pleaded guilty to tax evasion of $1.7 million.

He is also overseeing the criminal case of Steve Bannon, Trump’s chief strategist and senior White House adviser, who has pleaded not guilty to money laundering and state fraud.

“Murchin was assigned to oversee the grand jury and oversee any indictments arising from its investigation,” a court spokesman said.

Trump also criticized the judge by naming him on his social media platform Truth Social.

Misspelling the judge’s name, Trump wrote: “The judge ‘assigned’ to my witch hunt case, a ‘case’ never charged before, hates me. His name is Juan Manuel Marchon. Is.”

He also accused Murchan of “railroading” and “strong-arming” Wesselberg — who is currently behind bars at New York City’s Rikers Island prison complex — and of defrauding his companies. put

Just before the Trump Organization case began, in October of last year, District Attorney Alvin Bragg said: CBS News That the judge “runs an efficient courtroom.”

Judge Joan Merchin has served as an Acting Justice of the State Supreme Court in Manhattan for 14 years.

He also worked for the New York Attorney General’s Office for seven years, overseeing the office’s civil litigation in Nassau County for three years.

Merchant also spent five years as an assistant district attorney in Manhattan. A source with knowledge of internal discussions of Trump’s legal team referred to the role as “pro-prosecutor.”

According to a report in The New York TimesMurchan was an auditor at a real estate firm that equipped him with the skills to calculate the complexity of spreadsheets and financial crimes.

Trump has accused the case against him of being politically motivated and Bragg has been criticized for doing “dirty work” for Joe Biden.

Murchan faced similar criticism when he was overseeing the Trump Organization, but he shrugged it off.