NY judge in Trump hush-money case gave $15 to Biden in 2020, FEC records indicate

Judge Juan Merchan, the New York state judge presiding over former President Donald Trump's criminal case, made small political donations to progressive groups and Joe Biden's 2020 presidential campaign, federal campaign contribution records indicate.

Federal Election Commission reports show that Merchan, a judge employed by the New York State Office of Court Administration, made a $15 contribution to the Biden for President campaign committee on July 26, 2020, through ActBlue, a Democratic Party fundraising platform. 

The records show the judge also made a $10 contribution earmarked for the Progressive Turnout Project, a voter contact organization, and another $10 contribution to its subsidiary political action committee called Stop Republicans that year.  

A spokesperson for the state court system told Fox News Digital they had "no idea" whether the donations belonged to the same Judge Merchan who is handling Trump's case. "Should either party have any issues or concerns, it is for them to address directly with the Court," the spokesperson said.

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A directory of New York state's trial judges lists only one Juan Merchan, who works for the Supreme Court of New York County. Merchan is the judge who presided over Trump's arraignment in court on Tuesday and also handled the trial of the Trump Organization and its former CFO, Allen Weisselberg. 

Trump has pleaded not guilty to 34 felony counts of falsifying business records. The charges, which are related to alleged hush-money payments made during the 2016 presidential campaign, were brought by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg. 

The former president has lashed out against Merchan, calling him and his family "Trump haters" on social media and suggesting that the case should be moved to Staten Island, where he supposedly would stand a better chance of receiving a fair trial. 

Merchan's political donations may give Trump an excuse to claim unfair bias, but they appear to be too small to serve as grounds for a serious legal challenge or recusal, according to one observer. 

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"These small contributions alone would not require recusal if he decided to stay on case, but it warrants further inquiry into other possible partisan activities, such as whether he supported the candidacy of Alvin Bragg, who campaigned on the Trump issue," Harvard Law professor emeritus Alan Dershowitz told Fox News Digital. 

"Judge [Merchan] can also decide on his own to recuse if he feels that there may be an appearance of bias," Dershowitz added.  

Merchan has been receiving death threats and has been assigned a security team since he was announced as the judge presiding over Trump's case. 

"Chambers has been getting the predictable harassing and defamatory calls and emails, all of which are being assessed," Office of Court Administration spokesman Lucian Chalfen told Fox News Digital.

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"Over the past weeks, we have continued to evaluate and assess security concerns and potential threats and have maintained an increased security presence in and around courthouses and throughout the judiciary and will adjust protocols as necessary," he added.

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Trump's criminal defense attorney, Joe Tacopina, called the threats "appalling" and condemned such behavior. 

Fox News' Brianna Herlihy, Rebecca Rosenberg and Thomas Catenacci contributed to this report.