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EXCLUSIVE:America First Legal (AFL) is suing New York State Supreme Court Judge Juan Merchan for refusing to turn over his financial disclosures amid questions about his daughter’s work at a Democratic firm, Fox News Digital has learned.
AFL sued Merchan, who presided over former President Donald Trump’s six-week-long trial in New York v. Trump, stemming from the yearslong investigation out of Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s office. They also sued the New York State Unified Court System’s Ethics Commission.
Trump was found guilty on all 34 counts of falsifying business records in the first degree. Trump has appealed the ruling and called on Merchan to overturn the verdict.
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Judge Juan M. Merchan poses in his chambers in New York, March 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig, File)
The lawsuit comes after the AFL sent a demand letter last week for Merchan’s financial disclosures, threatening legal action. The AFL previously requested those records in June.
Under New York law, judges are required to file annual financial disclosures, which are required to be made available 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.”
Epstein said 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,” Epstein said. “Fundamental fairness dictates a resolution of America First Legal’s suit in its favor.”
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The AFL is seeking the records amid longstanding concerns of a conflict of interest in Merchan’s role in the trial amid his daughter’s political work.
Former President Donald Trump sits in the courtroom during his hush money trial at Manhattan Criminal Court on May 30, 2024 in New York City. (Michael M. Santiago/Pool via REUTERS)
Loren Merchan sits as the president for Authentic Campaigns — a company that has done political work for top Democrat clients like President Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris.
“Clearly, Justice Merchan’s daughter and her clients stand to profit handsomely from lawfare against President Trump,” the AFL wrote in its lawsuit.
They also noted that Judge Merchan has donated to Democratic causes, including to Biden’s campaign and a group called “Stop Republicans.”
In July 2023, the Commission on Judicial Conduct cautioned Merchan for his “improper political donations to the Biden campaign and ‘Stop Republicans,’” the lawsuit states.
Justice Juan Merchan presides as defense lawyer Todd Blanche presents closing arguments during former President Donald Trump’s criminal trial on charges that he falsified business records to conceal money paid to silence porn star Stormy Daniels in 2016, in Manhattan state court in New York City on May 28, 2024. (REUTERS/Jane Rosenberg )
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“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 over his daughter’s political work. Trump’s legal team asked Merchan to recuse himself before the trial began, which he did not.
A New York state ethics panel backed Merchan’s decision in a June 2023 decision.
The House Judiciary Committee, last week, subpoenaed Authentic Campaigns after the company refused to provide information and records related to the prosecution of former President Trump in New York v. Trump.
Committee Chairman Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, said that Judge Merchan’s “impartiality” has come into question over his daughter’s work and his “refusal to recuse himself from the case in light of his apparent conflicts of interest and biases.”
The CEO of Authentic reacted to the subpoena last week, saying the allegations against the company are “completely false and purely politically motivated.”
“This is a blatant attempt to intimidate us and divert attention from Donald Trump’s conviction,” CEO Michael Nellis said. “We refuse to be bullied, and we will not allow House Republicans or MAGA extremists to spread lies about our work.”
Meanwhile, Trump’s sentencing has been set for Sept. 18. He has requested that it be delayed until after the November presidential election.
Merchan has yet to make a decision on the matter.
Brooke Singman is a political correspondent and reporter for Fox News Digital, Fox News Channel and FOX Business.
