On Monday, former president Donald Trump, sued current Attorney General, Letitia James of New York state in federal court for the Northern District of New York. This is his newest attempt to derail probes that are being conducted on his business practices by her office. The news was first reported by the New York Times. The Trump Organization is also under investigation by the Manhattan District Attorney’s office.
According to a report in the Daily Beast, the lawsuit claims that the federal investigation violates Trump’s constitutional rights. It states that she had “tirelessly bombarded him, his family” and “Trump Organization LLC” which is his business, “with unwarranted subpoenas.”
The lawsuit also mentions that James was politically motivated to go against him and “to harass, intimidate and retaliate” against him. Earlier as well, he has accused her of “prosecutorial misconducts.” Some of these comments and the lawsuit have come after there were reports by multiple outlets though it was first reported in the Washington Post that Letitia James would seek a deposition from Trump, early January 2022. The former president was reportedly said to be called by the office on January 7, to depose under oath.
The Attorney General’s office is looking into allegations that the Trump Organization valued properties at different rates for different purposes. The investigation is probing whether the business misstated values of real estate, when the value was used to get loans and when it was for lowering the firm’s tax obligations.
Alina Habba, who is Trump’s attorney, said in a statement that Letitia James had targeted Trump with a callous disregard. According to the statement, James reportedly swore to abide by moral and ethical obligation when she became the Attorney General but she has disregarded them. The lawyer also called the probe “partisan” and said much more in a similar way.
Letitia James also gave a statement to the Daily Beast and other outlets where she noted that the Trump Organization had continuously delayed the investigation. She said that this latest lawsuit was another attack on the investigation. She strongly affirmed that their investigation would “continue undeterred” as no one was “above the law, not even someone with the name Trump.”
Legal analysts have said that the Attorney General’s civil investigations would continue to proceed and that Donald Trump’s lawsuit has almost no chance of success.
