A New York state ethics panel cautioned the Manhattan judge overseeing former President Donald Trump's hush money trial for donating $35 to Democratic causes in 2020 — violating rules on prohibited political activity.
Judge Juan Merchan donated $35 to the Democratic fundraising PAC ActBlue, with $10 each going to theProgressive Turnout Project and Stop Republicans, and $15 to Biden for President.
The complaint against Merchan was dismissed last summer, without the judge receiving any kind of penalty.
"Justice Merchan said the complaint, from more than a year ago, was dismissed in July with a caution," spokesperson Al Baker said in a statement.
Discussion of Merchan's donations can be included in any future cases reviewed by New York's Commission on Judicial Conduct.
Merchan's case is hardly unique. A 2024 annual report indicated that dozens of other judges had made similar small, but prohibited, donations, primarily to candidates for federal office. The Commission on Judicial Conduct generally keeps its proceedings in such cases confidential unless the judge chooses to go public or receives an official censure.
"Many of the prohibited contributions appear to have been made on the spur of the moment, with little deliberation," the commission's annual report read. "Like so much of the misconduct the Commission encounters, making a prohibited political contribution is a self-inflicted mistake."
News of Merchan's caution was first reported by Reuters on Friday — just days before the jury will begin deliberating the hush money case in Manhattan.
Trump is being tried on 34 felony charges involving hush-money payments to adult film actress Stormy Daniels, who alleges she had a sexual relationship with the former president.
Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Braggs has accused Trump of falsifying his business records to secretly pay Daniels to keep her quiet shortly before the 2016 presidential election.
