The New York judge tasked with overseeing the felony trial of former President Donald Trump has a history with the defendant.
Supreme Court Justice Juan Merchan has called the shots in proceedings involving Trump before.
Merchan was tasked with overseeing a subpoena dispute between the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office and the Trump Organization, The Wall Street Journal reported Sunday.
That dispute preceded a 2022 trial in which the Trump Organization was convicted of criminal tax fraud, according to CNN.
The former president now faces 34 felonies brought about by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg.
In a new release about Trump’s indictment last month, the George Soros-funded prosecutor accused him of “falsifying New York business records in order to conceal damaging information and unlawful activity” before and after the 2016 presidential election.
Trump has criticized the incessant legal probes of his company, personal finances and conduct as president as nothing more than partisan witch hunts wrought by leftist local prosecutors.
One former Manhattan prosecutor is describing Merchan’s role in the upcoming trial as grossly inappropriate, considering his history in Trump-related legal matters.
“There was not a random selection of a judge in this case, and there should have been,” former Manhattan Assistant District Attorney Christopher Brennan said of Merchan’s assignment, according to the Journal.
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