Attorney General Letitia James’ lawsuit, filed in New York state court, is the culmination of the Democrat’s three-year political investigation into Trump and the Trump Organization. Trump’s three oldest children, Donald Jr., Ivanka and Eric Trump, were also named as defendants, along with two longtime company executives, Allen Weiselberg and Jeffrey McConney. The lawsuit seeks to strike at the core of what made Trump famous, casting a black light on the image of wealth and opulence he embraced throughout his career — first as a real estate developer, then as a reality TV host on The Apprentice and Celebrity Apprentice. and later as president. James, a Democrat, announced details of the lawsuit at a news conference Wednesday. The case appeared in court on Wednesday morning.
Trump ‘falsely inflated his net worth by billions’
“Donald Trump falsely inflated his net worth by billions of dollars to unjustly enrich himself and cheat the system, thereby defrauding all of us,” James said at the news conference. James’ office has spent more than three years investigating fraudulent or misleading valuations of his properties in annual financial statements given to potential business partners, banks or tax officials. The goal, according to the attorney general’s office, was to mask the billionaire Trump’s image and the value of his assets when doing so gave him an advantage, while at other times reducing the value of assets for tax purposes. “Today’s filing focuses on neither the facts nor the law — rather, it focuses solely on advancing the attorney general’s political agenda,” said Alina Habba, Trump’s lawyer. “It is abundantly clear that the Attorney General’s Office has exceeded its legal authority by investigating transactions in which absolutely no wrongdoing has occurred. We are confident that our judicial system will not tolerate this unchecked abuse of power, and we look forward to defending our client against to each of the attorney general’s baseless claims.”
