Former President Donald Trump on Monday sued New York Attorney General Letitia James in an attempt to end what he called a “witch hunt” targeting his family’s real estate company.
The lawsuit, filed in Federal Court in Albany, claims that James’ two-year investigation into the Trump organization is politically motivated and calls on a judge to end it.
In the file, Trump’s legal team says investigations launched by James’ office “are in no way related to legitimate law enforcement objectives, but rather are a thinly veiled effort to publicly slander Trump. and his associates.
“Her mission is guided only by political animosity and the desire to harass, intimidate and retaliate against a private citizen whom she considers a political opponent,” the document added.
The trial comes less than two weeks after reports indicated that James would subpoena Trump to answer questions under oath on January 7. declare AG instead.
Trump weighed in on the lawsuit in a statement Monday, denying James’ claim that the lawsuit was a blocking tactic and prompting him to drop the governorship race.
“It’s not about delay, it’s about our Constitution! You are nothing but a corrupt official doing your party’s dirty work. You shouldn’t be in office. That just might be the reason why you have just been rejected by the people of New York in your inept gubernatorial race, ”he said.
“You didn’t quit for a higher goal, you quit because your poll results were atrocious – you didn’t stand a chance. New York was lucky! Trump continued.
Trump also took the opportunity to shoot his longtime enemies, former Governor Andrew Cuomo and his brother, disgraced CNN anchor Chris Cuomo, whom he calls “Fredo.”
“Tell Letitia she’s not dealing with the Cuomo brothers, a corrupt governor in a corrupt state, including your office and others, and Fredo, who did the governor’s dirty work for him,” Trump said. .
The former president said that despite her lengthy investigation into him, the investigation is “just a continuation of the political witch-hunt waged against me by radical left-wing Democrats for years.”
Chris Cuomo faces allegations of sexual misconduct and is accused of using his CNN post to help deflect allegations of sexual harassment that brought down his brother. Last week, Trump accused James of “prosecution misconduct” in the investigation.
“Letitia James wants to politically arm her position as attorney general instead of exemplifying impartiality and protecting the interests of all New Yorkers,” the 45th president said in an emailed statement.
Monday’s Trump team brief echoes the former president’s earlier statements about the state attorney general. He includes a lamenting aside that “rather than diligently prosecute the actual crimes in New York State – which are on the rise – James has instead allocated valuable taxpayer resources to a frivolous witch hunt.”
He also cites many of the criticisms James made of Trump before she was elected state attorney general in 2018, during her campaign for that office and after her inauguration.
“In short, the defendant [James] has promised to investigate Trump dozens of times in seven months, all before she takes office or is aware of a single fact known to law enforcement, ”the document said. “The defendant did not indicate a legal or factual basis for such promises. She could not. After all, her knowledge of Trump’s business activities was no greater than that of any other citizen. On the contrary, her only rationale for the upcoming investigation was his political opposition to Trump. “
James is investigating whether Trump grossly overvalued the assets of the Trump Organization to obtain loans and undervalued them for tax purposes.
“The Trump Organization has continuously sought to delay our investigation into its trade relationship and now Donald Trump and his namesake company have filed a complaint as an attempted collateral attack on this investigation,” James said in a statement Monday.
“To be clear, neither Mr. Trump nor the Trump Organization can dictate whether and where they will answer for their actions,” she added. “Our investigation will continue without being discouraged because no one is above the law, not even someone called Trump.”
While the State AG’s investigation is a civil matter, the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office is conducting a criminal investigation into the company’s business practices.
