EXCLUSIVE: America First Legal (AFL) is suing New York State Supreme Court Justice Juan Merchan for refusing to turn over his financial information following questions about his daughter’s work at a Democratic firm, Fox News Digital has learned.
The AFL sued Merchan, who presided over former President Donald Trump’s six-week trial in New York v. Trump, which followed a years-long investigation by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s office. The AFL also sued the New York State Unified Court System Ethics Commission.
Trump was convicted of 34 counts of first-degree falsification of business records. Trump appealed the judgment and asked Merchan to overturn the verdict.
Fox News Digital was the first to obtain the lawsuit.
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Judge Juan M. Merchan poses in his chambers in New York City on March 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig, file)
The complaint comes after the AFL sent a letter last week demanding disclosure of Merchan’s financial information, threatening legal action. The AFL had previously requested the documents in June.
Under New York state law, judges are required to file annual financial statements, which must be made available upon request.
“The law is clear that financial information disclosed by judges must be made public,” AFL Vice President Dan Epstein told Fox News Digital. “New York’s highest court has said that such information is necessary for parties in court to receive fair treatment.”
Epstein said the public “needs to know what Judge Merchan is hiding or even if he hasn’t filed financial disclosures at all.”
“This is particularly important given that Merchan appears to have made illegal campaign contributions and is on the verge of criminally convicting the former president of the United States,” Epstein said. “Fundamental fairness requires that America First Legal’s lawsuit be resolved in his favor.”
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The AFL is seeking the documents because of long-standing concerns about 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 “lost money” trial at Manhattan Criminal Court on May 30, 2024 in New York City. (Michael M. Santiago/Pool via REUTERS)
Loren Merchan is president of Authentic Campaigns, a firm that has done political work for high-profile Democratic clients including President Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris.
“Clearly, Judge Merchan’s daughter and her clients stand to gain from this legal war against President Trump,” the AFL wrote in its complaint.
They also noted that Judge Merchan had donated to Democratic causes, including the Biden campaign and a group called “Stop Republicans.”
In July 2023, the Commission on Judicial Conduct warned Merchan for his “improper political donations to the Biden campaign and ‘Stop Republicans,’” the lawsuit says.
Judge Juan Merchan presides as defense attorney Todd Blanche delivers closing arguments in the criminal trial of former President Donald Trump, who is accused of falsifying business records to conceal money paid to silence porn star Stormy Daniels in 2016, in Manhattan State Court in New York, May 28, 2024. (REUTERS/Jane Rosenberg)
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“Given the magnitude of the criminal case and Judge Merchan’s obvious political bias, conflict and bias, public interest organizations such as the AFL have a strong interest in obtaining the requested disclosures and shedding light on his finances,” the lawsuit states.
Republicans have accused Judge Merchan of political bias because of his daughter’s political work. Trump’s legal team asked Judge Merchan to recuse himself before the trial began, which he did not do.
A New York state ethics board backed Merchan’s decision in a June 2023 ruling.
Last week, the House Judiciary Committee subpoenaed Authentic Campaigns after the company refused to provide information and documents related to the lawsuit against former President Trump in New York v. Trump.
Committee Chairman Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, said Judge Merchan’s “impartiality” had been called into question regarding his daughter’s work and his “refusal to recuse himself from the case in light of his conflicts of interest and apparent bias.”
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Authentic’s CEO responded 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 distract from the conviction of Donald Trump,” said CEO Michael Nellis. “We refuse to be intimidated and will not allow House Republicans or MAGA extremists to spread lies about our work.”
Meanwhile, Trump’s sentencing has been set for September 18. He has asked that it be postponed until after the November presidential election.
Merchan has not yet made a decision on this matter.
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