America First Legal (AFL) is taking legal action against New York State Supreme Court Judge Juan Merchan and the state’s Unified Court System’s Ethics Commission.
The organization is seeking Merchan’s financial disclosures for 2018 through 2024. This legal move comes amid concerns about potential conflicts of interest, particularly regarding his daughter’s employment at a Democratic-affiliated firm.
Merchan was the presiding judge who oversaw the six-week trial of former President Donald Trump in the New York v. Trump case. The trial resulted from a lengthy investigation conducted by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s office.
Trump was convicted on all 34 counts of first-degree falsifying business records. He has since appealed the decision and urged Merchan to overturn the verdict.
The lawsuit stems from his alleged refusal to release his financial disclosure records after receiving a letter from AFL last week. The AFL had previously made a request for those records in June.
New York law mandates that judges submit annual financial disclosures, which must be provided upon request.
“The law is clear that judicial financial disclosures must be released to the public,” AFL Vice President Dan Epstein told Fox News Digital.
“New York’s highest court has stated that such disclosures are necessary for parties before the courts to get a fair shake.”
According to Epstein, the public needs to know what Judge Merchan is hiding or even if he failed to file financial disclosures at all.”
“This is especially important given the fact that Merchan appears to have engaged in unlawful campaign contributions and is on the precipice of criminally sentencing the former president of the United States,” he continued. “Fundamental fairness dictates a resolution of America First Legal’s suit in its favor.”
The AFL is pursuing the records due to ongoing concerns about a potential conflict of interest in Merchan’s role in the trial, given his daughter, Loren Merchan’s involvement in political work.
Loren currently serves as the president of Authentic Campaigns, a company that has handled political work for prominent Democratic clients, including President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris.
“Clearly, Justice Merchan’s daughter and her clients stand to profit handsomely from lawfare against President Trump,” the lawsuit, which was obtained by the outlet states.
The organization also pointed out that Merchan has contributed to Democratic causes, including President Biden’s campaign and an organization called “Stop Republicans.”
The lawsuit states that in July 2023, the Commission on Judicial Conduct issued a caution to Merchan for making “improper political donations to the Biden campaign and ‘Stop Republicans.’”
“Given the magnitude of the Criminal Matter and Justice Merchan’s readily apparent political bias, conflict, and partiality, public-interest organizations such as AFL have a keen interest in obtaining the Requested Disclosures and shining light on his finances,” the lawsuit states.
Republicans have accused Judge Merchan of political bias due to his daughter’s political work.
Trump’s legal team requested that Merchan recuse himself before the trial, but he declined to do so. In June 2023, a New York state ethics panel upheld Merchan’s decision not to recuse himself.
Source: Resistthemainstream
