The 222-page civil complaint asks the New York Supreme Court to bar Trump, as well as Donald Trump Jr., Ivanka Trump and Eric Trump, from serving as officers of any company in New York and to bar the Trump Organization from acquiring any commercial real estate or obtaining loans from any financial institution registered in New York for five years. It is seeking to recover more than $250 million in what James’ office says are ill-gotten gains obtained through the alleged deceptive practices. While the lawsuit itself is not a criminal prosecution, James (D) said she has referred potential violations of federal law to the Justice Department and the IRS. Trump’s lawyer, Alina Haba, dismissed the charges as politically motivated, saying in a statement that the attorney general’s allegations were “without merit.” Read the lawsuit filed against Donald Trump, his 3 children and the Trump Organization The lawsuit, filed in New York Supreme Court, is the result of a two-year investigation by James and names 23 properties in the Trump Organization’s portfolio, including the Mar-a-Lago Club in Florida, his Seven Springs estate in Westchester. County, NY, and the DC hotel it leased from the federal government until it sold it in May. “Inflated asset valuations in the Statements cannot be set aside or justified as merely the result of exaggeration or a good faith estimate on which reasonable real estate professionals might differ,” he says. It adds to a deepening list of legal challenges facing Trump more than 18 months after leaving the White House and at a time when he remains actively involved in Republican politics and has generally suggested he will run for president again in 2024. In addition to naming Trump and three of his children personally, the suit names the Trump Organization and Allen Weiselberg, Trump’s longtime finance director who recently pleaded guilty to tax crimes and comptroller Jeffrey McConney. The status of key investigations involving Donald Trump Trump and his family have repeatedly called the James investigation a “witch hunt,” pointing to statements James made on the campaign trail in which he promised to investigate him. They have denied any wrongdoing. “Today’s filing focuses on neither the facts nor the law — rather, it focuses solely on advancing the Attorney General’s political agenda,” Habba said in her statement. “We are confident that our judicial system will not tolerate this unchecked abuse of authority, and we look forward to defending our client against each of the Attorney General’s baseless claims.” Instead of focusing narrowly on a few instances of misconduct, James’ office portrayed Trump, his family and his officials as using a wide range of underhanded maneuvers in their dealings with lenders and regulators, even though they knew they were illegal. The lawsuit highlights Trump’s practice of distributing financial statements by inflating the values of his properties and sometimes exaggerating how many acres those properties cover or how many homes could be built on them. Defense attorneys said in court that commercial real estate companies routinely argue for lower tax assessments and that the company’s behavior was no different, but James said Wednesday that the incorrect assessments could not be considered a “good faith mistake.” The former president and his family should be held to the same standards as everyday Americans, James said at a news conference in Manhattan, noting that it is illegal for them to lie to banks to secure loans to send their children to college or a mortgage home loan. “Claiming to have money you don’t have is not the art of the deal. It’s the art of stealing,” James said, mocking the title of Donald Trump’s 1987 book. “There can’t be different rules for different people in this country or in this state.” This is a developing story. He will be informed. O’Connell reported from Washington.
