After a last-ditch effort to delay the first criminal trial of the former US president failed, Donald Trump lashed out at the New York judge overseeing the case: Judge Juan Merchant.

“Judge Juan Melchan is completely damaged,” Trump wrote on his “Truth Social” platform on March 28. “If a biased and contradictory judge is allowed to continue hearing this sham, case’, it would be another sad example of our country becoming a banana republic.”

Despite Trump’s vitriol and efforts to remove Merchant from the case, the judge approached the lawsuit with both concerns about Trump’s rights as a defendant and presidential candidate while standing firm in the face of what he considered troubling conduct and treatment Personal attacks from family members. Former President of the United States.

The veteran judge, who began his career as an assistant district attorney in the same office that is now prosecuting Trump, has overseen the criminal trial of the Trump family real estate company and is presiding over former Trump adviser Steve ·Bannon’s criminal case.

In the trial, Trump faces 34 felony counts of falsifying business records to cover up a $130,000 payment from his former lawyer Michael Cohen to porn star Stormy Daniels. in exchange for her silence about what she said was a sexual encounter before the 2016 election. Trump ten years ago.

Trump, the Republican presidential candidate in the Nov. 5 election, has pleaded not guilty and denied any such encounter. Judge Murcha stressed that he did not want the trial to hinder Trump’s ability to campaign or publicly criticize the case.

But he has insisted on enforcing the rules in court, such as during jury selection on Tuesday when he said Trump said something and did something to a prospective juror while she was being questioned just 12 feet (3.7 meters away). gesture. from him. “I’m not going to tolerate this,” Judge Murcha said, her voice rising after the prospective juror left the room. “I will not allow any juror to be intimidated in the courtroom. I want to make that very clear.” No juror was selected.

In late March, Judge Merchant granted a gag order request from the office of Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, limiting Trump’s public remarks about witnesses, court staff and individual prosecutors. The judge said some of Trump’s comments were threatening or inflammatory.

Bragg’s office filed the charges after Trump disparaged the judge’s daughter online and the judge later expanded the order to include his relatives and Bragg’s relatives. Trump’s lawyers argued that Judge Merchant should be removed because his daughter works for a political consulting firm that provides services to Democratic clients. Judge Silk has twice rejected the requests.

From Queens to Court

The hush money case is the first of four criminal indictments Trump faces. Trump has also pleaded not guilty in other cases related to efforts to overturn his 2020 election defeat and his handling of government documents.

The history-making trial was a far cry from Judge Merchant’s previous experience in the state Court of Claims and Bronx Family Court, which hear cases against the state and its agencies.

The judge was born in Colombia and moved to the United States when he was six, growing up in Queens, New York City, where Trump spent much of his teenage years. He is a graduate of Baruch College in New York City and Hofstra University School of Law on Long Island. He has served as a Manhattan Criminal Court judge since 2009. Over the past three years, he has tried numerous political cases involving Trump and his allies.

In 2022, Judge Mocha presided over the criminal trial of the Trump Organization. A jury found the real estate company guilty of tax fraud. Judge Merchan subsequently ordered the company to pay a fine of $1.6 million. He is also overseeing Steve Bannon’s case, which is currently scheduled to go to trial in May. The former Trump campaign and White House adviser has pleaded not guilty to fraud charges related to a nonprofit that raised money to build a wall on the U.S.-Mexico border.

Trump’s trial was originally scheduled to begin on March 25, but Merchin delayed it by three weeks after defense attorneys raised concerns about late submissions of potential evidence. The judge showed little patience for what was seen as a delay in the effort after finding Trump’s arguments without merit.

In an order on April 3, Judge Merkel denied Trump’s request to exclude some evidence, writing: “Defendants waited until just 17 days before the scheduled trial date of March 25, 2024 to file their motion. The facts raise real questions about the sincerity and practical purpose of the motion.”

(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)