Fifty years after the initial investigation into Donald Trump, he will hear for the first time a judge send him by word of mouth the first indictment, or rather, indictments that a grand jury has pledged to pursue, after a trial led by prosecutor Alvin Bragg.
In 1973, federal investigators found evidence that the real estate company Trump Management, led by Donald and his father Fred, systematically discriminated against blacks and Hispanics. Prosecutors filed charges, and the trial ended in a settlement two years later. Such has been the life of the New York businessman. For example, in 2018, the already president ordered a court to pay $25 million in damages to students at a fraudulent Trump university.
He is making his debut at age 76 as a defendant in a case he says is politically motivated and related to the $130,000 payment to porn star Stormy Daniels to buy her silence, an operation involving then-personal attorney and facilitator Michael Cohen. . Falsification of company records and violation of the election campaign financing law are the offenses in question.
As his immediate neighbors pointed out, Trump will try to make the case new show, in which the Republican pre-candidate presents himself as a victim of the Democrats. He started making accusations to the prosecutor and also to the judge, being assisted by the lawyers as to the seriousness of the process. “This case isn’t even legally sound. It’s actually a joke. And it won’t survive a lawsuit,” one of the lawyers, Joe Tacopina, told ABC. “An impartial judge will likely recognize that something is wrong,” another attorney, James Trusty, added to Fox.
In New York, 36,000 security force agents are prepared for the worst. Faced with the announcement of a demonstration with the presence of Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene, the mayor, Eric Adams, recalled that it is “known for spreading misinformation and hate speech” and asked for restraint. “While you’re in town, behave yourself.”
Obstruction at Mar-a-Lago
Meanwhile, in another of the two trials overseen by Special Counsel Jack Smith, the Justice Department and the FBI have collected new evidence pointing to the former president’s possible obstruction of the investigation regarding classified documents found in his residence. found it. in Mar-a-Lake, Florida.
According to the The Washington Post, evidence was gathered in emails and text messages from a former Trump aide. Based on witness statements, security camera footage and other evidence, that after the issuance of the subpoena to return the documents, the President and Vice President must leave all papers and items, including gifts, at the White House for safekeeping with the National Archive – boxes were removed and Trump examined the contents of some.
Documents were then delivered – 15 boxes of material, containing 184 classified documents – but not all of them. This was confirmed by the FBI’s search last August, which collected about 13,000 documents, 103 of which were classified, and of these 18 were top secret. According to the testimony of those who worked with Trump, he believed the items and documents belonged to him and did not want to return them. The criminal framework for the crime of federal obstruction of justice is five years in prison, but it is not uncommon for multiple criminal penalties to accumulate, with a convicted felon facing a sentence of up to 20 years.
Who is Judge Mercan?
As soon as he learned he would be charged, Trump claimed on the Truth Social network that the judge “hate” him. As far as Juan Merchan and the former president are known, they haven’t crossed paths, but two instances of the Trump universe have emerged recently.
In the first, two companies were found guilty of 17 counts of tax fraud and falsifying company records and sentenced to a fine of up to $1.6 million. Former Trump Organization chief financial officer Allen Weisselberg has pleaded guilty and served as a witness while serving five months in jail — Trump claims he was coerced into a confession by the judge. In the other case, former adviser Steve Bannon faces charges of fraud and money laundering in connection with a fundraiser to build a wall along the border with Mexico.
Juan Manuel Merchan, the youngest of six children, was born in Bogota, Colombia. The family emigrated to Queens, New York, when he was six. From an early age, he had to help his family with tasks such as washing dishes in a restaurant. He worked as an auditor for a real estate company while studying higher education, first in management, then in law.
In 1994, he began his career in the district attorney’s office and transferred to the district attorney’s office until 2006, when he became a judge in the family court. Since 2009, he has served on the New York Supreme Court, presiding over trials.
In 2012, he was the judge in a case that rocked New York: an upscale brothel run by a woman who led a double life on the Upper East Side, making millions in the business that led to her being accused of promoting prostitution . was dismantled. , and the humble life in the suburbs. The judge set a million dollar bail for Anna Gristina, the Soccer Mom Msbut eventually accepted the deal of six months in jail and five years probation.
Source: DN
