Long before he was the acting Supreme Court judge set to oversee the criminal case of People v. Trump, Judge Juan Merchan stood out as a young assistant DA at the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office.

“I had so many assistants come through that door, and there are those that stood out, even then,” recalled a former supervisor of Merchan’s at the DA’s office. “Ellen Biben, JFK Jr., a small handful of others. Juan Merchan definitely stood out.”