Legal Group Demands Judge Juan Merchan’s Financial Records, Sue’s Alvin Bragg Over DEI Polices

America First Legal has filed a formal request with the State of New York Ethics Commission for the Unified Court System for the immediate release of Judge Juan Merchan’s financial records.

“Under New York Law, judges are required to file annual financial disclosures which are required to be made available for inspection upon request. AFL has filed such a request for Acting Judge Merchan’s disclosures for reporting years 2018 through 2024,” the legal group, which was co-founded by leading Trump advisor Stephen Miller, wrote in a press release. “AFL will release any documents obtained from this request.”

Judge Juan Merchan — a Biden donor whose daughter has raised millions of dollars for left-wing groups — has found himself at the center of political bias allegations surrounding the unprecedented trial.

America First Legal has filed several lawsuits and requests for documents aimed at Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, members of his staff and Judge Juan Merchan.

On Thursday, the group filed a  a federal civil rights complaint with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) and a state law complaint with the New York Department of Labor against Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg for alleged racial and sex discrimination in hiring and recruitment. AFL has sued a number of organizations for discriminatory hiring practices under the New York State Human Rights Law. 

“The evidence is that the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office uses ‘diversity’ as a proxy for hiring and promotion quotas. The Office’s Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion web page — listed under ‘About the Office’ alongside only two other pages, ‘Meet Alvin Bragg” and ‘History of the Office’ — demonstrates that Bragg operates a program of racial balancing to build ‘a diverse [sic] workforce that reflects [diverse] communities,’” AFL wrote in a separate press release.

The release included screenshots demonstrating hiring quotas for race, gender and sexual orientation that are present within Bragg’s office.

AFL is also suing the Department of Justice for records relating to Bragg’s hiring of Matthew Colangelo, who served as the third most senior official in the Biden DOJ before leaving to become a low-level prosecutor in New York. Colangelo worked on the Trump prosecution after joining the team as a white collar crimes specialist.

“Today, AFL sued the DOJ to compel the immediate release of previously requested records regarding Matthew Colangelo, a key figure in the partisan and politically-motivated prosecution of President Trump in Manhattan,” America First Legal wrote in a press release.

In addition to the lawsuit, the legal group filed a number of additional Freedom of Information Act Requests for communications concerning Colangelo’s hiring. The group is demanding communications between Colangelo and the New York County District Attorney’s Office, Special Counsel Jack Smith, Jay Bratt, David Harbach, and the group called “Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington” (CREW).