evidence: - The former president has claimed that the judge in this case — Justice Juan Merchan — is "corrupt" or "conflicted," but one of Trump’s own lawyers last year said he had "no issue … whatsoever" with Merchan. [...] Besides pointing to that small political contribution, Trump has made other attacks on Merchan’s credibility, claiming repeatedly, including after the verdict, that he is "corrupt" or "conflicted." But before the trial, one of Trump’s lawyers at the time said he has "no issue … whatsoever" with Merchan overseeing the case. [...] In the past, Trump has objected to Merchan having been the judge who sentenced the Trump Organization’s chief financial officer, Allen Weisselberg, to five months in jail in a tax fraud case. At the January 2023 sentencing, Merchan said had there not been a plea deal, he would have imposed a harsher sentence than the five months, which ultimately was reduced to 100 days with good behavior. Weisselberg was released in April 2023, but sentenced to five months again, by a different judge, this April after committing perjury in the New York civil fraud trial against Trump.