America First Legal (AFL) has filed a lawsuit against New York Supreme Court Judge Juan Merchan, accusing him of failing to release his financial disclosures, which were originally requested in June. The conservative law firm is pressing for transparency, as Merchan presided over former President Donald Trump’s criminal case, in which Trump was convicted of 34 counts of falsifying business records related to payments made to adult film star Stormy Daniels by his former attorney, Michael Cohen, before the 2016 election.
AFL filed a request with the Ethics Commission for the New York State Court System, seeking Merchan’s financial records from 2018 to 2024. The organization argues that the Commission is legally required to disclose the requested documents. “This is not a close case, nor a complicated one—the Commission is legally required to produce the Requested Disclosures for inspection—full stop,” AFL stated in its lawsuit.
The filing highlighted an incident from July 2023, when the Commission on Judicial Conduct issued a warning to Merchan for making improper political donations to the Biden campaign and the “Stop Republicans” movement. AFL also noted that Merchan’s daughter, Loren Merchan, serves as president of Authentic Campaigns, a progressive consulting firm that works with Democratic candidates, including President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris. According to the complaint, Authentic Campaigns’ clients, such as Representative Adam Schiff and the Senate Majority PAC, raised “at least $93 million” using Trump’s indictments in their fundraising efforts.
AFL further criticized Merchan’s handling of Trump’s trial, calling some of his decisions “bizarre and legally inexplicable.” These included his refusal to recuse himself, the implementation of an “unconstitutional” gag order against Trump, and the allowance of what AFL called “inadmissible, irrelevant, and unfairly prejudicial testimony.” Additionally, the judge barred former Federal Elections Commission Chairman Bradley Smith from testifying on campaign finance law, particularly on whether Cohen’s payment to Daniels qualified as a political donation.
Legal experts have questioned Merchan’s jury instructions, arguing they may have been unconstitutional. According to AFL, the instructions allowed the jury to choose from three underlying crimes to convict Trump of felony business record violations.
AFL Vice President Dan Epstein emphasized the importance of releasing Merchan’s financial disclosures. “The public needs to know what Judge Merchan is hiding or even if he failed to file financial disclosures at all,” Epstein said. “Fundamental fairness dictates a resolution of America First Legal’s suit in its favor.”
As Trump awaits sentencing, some legal analysts, including Alan Dershowitz and Andrew McCarthy, believe Merchan will likely impose a prison sentence but may suspend it or allow Trump to post bail pending appeal.
/1🚨BREAKING NEWS🚨
— America First Legal (@America1stLegal) September 5, 2024
We just sued Judge Merchan and the Ethics Commission for the NY Unified Court System for illegally concealing Judge Merchan’s financial disclosures from 2018-2024.
We requested these records in June under NY state law and have been unlawfully stonewalled: pic.twitter.com/Qpu41yglHl