Conservative critics of Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg's case against Donald Trump are claiming the judge overseeing the proceedings is biased because he donated $15 to Joe Biden's campaign.
Judge Juan Merchan, who presided over the former president's arraignment on Tuesday, donated $15 to Mr Biden's 2020 campaign, according to federal campaign contribution data.
Records also show two other small donations from the same individual to progressive groups a day after he donated to the campaign in the amounts of $10 for the Progressive Turnout Project and another $10 to the group Stop Republicans.
Stephen Gillers, a legal ethics professor at New York University, told CNN that judges in New York, adhere to guidance from the American Bar Association Model Code of Judicial Conduct, which prohibits judges from “soliciting funds for, paying an assessment to, or making a contribution to a political organization or candidate.”
However, between 2021 and 2022 campaigns, more than 30,000 donations from people whose occupations are listed as judges were made in amounts ranging from single-digits to more than $100,000, according to an analysis by NBC News.
Some of those donations were made by judges to groups in league with Mr Trump.
Mr Gillers noted that among the judicial community Mr Merchan's contributions likely “would be viewed as trivial, especially given the small sums.”
Chuck Rosenberg, an NBC News legal analyst, told the outlet that “the donations were unwise as a matter of appearance,” but noted that “appearances matter.”
Mr Trump has already accused the judge of being biased against him, and Donald Trump Jr signal boosted a Breitbart story highlighting the fact that the judge's daughter worked for Biden-Harris presidential ticket in 2020.
The former president called Mr Merchan a "highly partisan judge" and claimed his family were "Trump haters" during a speech at Mar-a-Lago after his arraignment.
Mr Trump was warned — despite his legal team's insistence it was not a warning — to keep his rhetoric in check as the case proceeded. A photo he shared on Truth Social of him holding a baseball bat next to a photo of Mr Bragg sparked the comment during his arraignment.
Democratic Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez condemned Mr Trump's attack on the judge, calling it "stochastic terror" — essentially saying that Mr Trump, without issuing a direct threat, knows how his supporters will take his criticism of the judge, and what they may do in response.
“Because nothing says ‘innocent’ like threatening a judge’s family,” she tweeted. “Let’s be very clear: intimidation and stochastic terror are the core tools of Trump and the fascist movements that support him. They rely on it to skirt consequence and silence others — and each time it works, they grow more brazen. One reason why accountability is so important.”
Sources familiar with the situation revealed that Mr Merchan and his family began receiving threats within 24 hours of the former president's arraignment.
Mr Merchan's $15 dollar donation was revealed just as the public learned that conservative Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas reportedly has been taking lavish vacations with a Republican billionaire — and his Republican friends — for years.
