(Fox News) 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.
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.”
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.
