America First Legal (AFL) has uncovered a major conflict of interest involving the federal judge who recently issued a ruling halting President Trump’s temporary spending freeze — Judge John McConnell, Chief Judge of the U.S. District Court for the District of Rhode Island.

AFL’s investigation reveals that Judge McConnell has a longstanding and ongoing affiliation with Crossroads Rhode Island, a non-profit that has received $128 million in government funding during his time on its board, and now stands to receive millions more.

Judge McConnell also previously served as the Chair of the Board and is still currently listed as the Chair-Emeritus. In fact, he has appeared as a Director on Crossroads Rhode Island’s IRS Form 990 every year since he took the federal bench in 2013. Despite his clear financial ties, Judge McConnell failed to fully disclose his decades-long entanglement with this federally-funded nonprofit and recuse himself from the lawsuit over President Trump’s temporary freeze of federal spending.

So when Judge McConnell ordered the federal government to resume payments to the plaintiffs, he ensured that an organization — on whose board he sat (and likely continues to sit) and to which he owed (and likely continues to owe) a fiduciary duty — would continue receiving tens of millions of dollars from the federal government.