Decide Juan Merchan, the New York state decide who presided over former President Donald Trump’s arraignment Tuesday and the current felony tax fraud trial involving the Trump Group, seems to have donated $15 to President Joe Biden’s 2020 marketing campaign, federal marketing campaign contribution knowledge reveals.
Federal Election Fee stories present a Juan Merchan, who lists his occupation as a decide with the New York State Workplace of Courtroom Administration, donated $15 earmarked for Biden for President, Biden’s marketing campaign committee, on July 26, 2020. There isn’t any different decide listed on the state judicial listing sharing Merchan’s identify. It’s in opposition to federal legislation to donate in another person’s identify.
Neither a spokesperson for the state courtroom system nor the decide’s private chambers responded to requests for remark when requested whether or not the decide made these donations.
Data additionally checklist two different small donations from the identical Juan Merchan to progressive teams a day after the Biden donation — $10 donations on July 27, 2020 to the teams Cease Republicans and Progressive Turnout Undertaking — teams which might be affiliated with one another, that means it’s doable {that a} donation of $20 was break up evenly throughout the 2 teams. All three donations, together with the one to Biden, have been made by way of ActBlue, the favored on-line donation-processing agency utilized by just about each main Democratic marketing campaign and allied group.
The third donation, $15 to Biden at some point prior, is the one different federal political donation attributed to a Juan Merchan of New York within the Federal Election Fee’s database, which spans a number of many years.
It’s not unusual for judges to donate to political candidates — a search of federal marketing campaign donations in 2021 and 2022 turns up greater than 30,000 donations from individuals itemizing “decide” as their occupation, donations in quantities starting from single-digit sums to greater than $10,000.
These donations span quite a lot of teams of each events, together with teams affiliated with Trump. And different judges donated to Biden’s 2020 marketing campaign on the identical report the place the Merchan donation seems.
However it could imply Merchan has donated to the one-time — and potential future — political opponent of a defendant now going through a trial in his courtroom.
The donations doubtless solely proceed to gasoline Trump’s criticism of the decide and his household, who he’s accused of being biased in opposition to him (Trump and his household have additionally criticized Merchan’s daughter for her work for then-California Democratic Sen. Kamala Harris’ presidential bid, and subsequently for the Biden-Harris presidential ticket).
“The donations have been unwise, as a matter of look,” Chuck Rosenberg, an NBC Information authorized analyst and a former federal prosecutor, mentioned. “However, appearances matter.”
Trump’s presidential marketing campaign didn’t instantly return a request for remark in regards to the obvious donations.
Jonathan Allen and Jonathan Dienst contributed.
