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| Trump trial live: Jury begins deliberating in hush-money case - BBC News | Trump trial live: Jury begins deliberating in hush-money case - BBC News |
| (32 minutes later) | |
| Kayla Epstein | Kayla Epstein |
| Reporting from court | Reporting from court |
| Justice Merchan has served 17 years on the bench, but this is by far the most high-profile case to cross his courtroom. | |
| The New York County Supreme Court judge is known for his reserved nature. He is not a loud man, which can make it a bit difficult to hear him when he makes an important decision in court, but he is no pushover, either. | |
| He threatened Trump with jail time if he kept breaking the gag order, told the defence lawyer that he was “losing all credibility” during one argument, and cleared the courtroom to scold a witness. | |
| Soon after Donald Trump was charged, records emerged showing Justice Merchan had donated a total of $35 to Democrats during the 2020 election. New York state prohibits judges from making contributions to political organisations or candidates, but he did not recuse himself. | |
| The judge's daughter, Loren Merchan, has been at the centre of a bigger conflict-of-interest storm. | |
| She is president of Authentic Campaigns, a firm that has worked on fundraising and advertising for Democratic clients. Attempts to have the judge removed from the case for this reason also failed. | |
| Trump blasted Loren Merchan on social media, calling her a “Rabid Trump Hater”, which caused the gag order to be extended to include the judge's family. | |
| You can read more about the judge here. | |
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