The former president is seeking a court order preventing New York Attorney General Letitia James from obtaining information about the Trump Organization’s controlling trust.
Former President Donald Trump has filed a lawsuit seeking to prevent New York Attorney General Letitia James from obtaining records for the trust that controls the Trump Organization.
In a bizarre statement announcing the lawsuit, Trump tried to discredit James by referencing crime rates in New York.
“Today, I filed a lawsuit in Florida State Circuit Court against the corrupt Attorney General of New York State, Letitia “Peekaboo” James. New York State is one of the most crime-ridden places on earth with murders, robberies, drug deals, and every other form of crime setting records on a weekly basis,” Trump said.
“While James does nothing to protect New York against these violent crimes and criminals, she attacks great and upstanding businesses which have done nothing wrong, like the very successful, job and tax producing Trump Organization that I have painstakingly built over a long period of years,” the former president added.
[writer’s note: New York’s state per capita crime rate is at or below the national average. New York City is generally recognized as one of the safest large cities in the country]
According to CNN, the civil lawsuit was filed several hours after a New York judge blocked a petition to transfer James’s $250 million lawsuit to the state’s commercial litigation courts.
In his lawsuit, Trump alleges that James’s actions are politically motivated and specifically intended to wreak havoc on the former president’s business interests.
“In furtherance of her attempts to steal, destroy or control all things Trump, James has become preoccupied with obtaining a copy of President Trump’s revocable trust,” the lawsuit claims.
Trump’s lawsuit seeks an injunction preventing James from obtaining information about the trust, as well as a finding that the attorney general has no jurisdiction over the assets “and no authority to supplant or control the powers of the trustee of such a trust.”
“If James’ past conduct is any indication, James will also publicly disclose the information once obtained,” the lawsuit states.
James, adds CNN, is currently asking a New York judge to mandate court approval before Trump attempts to move any business assets out of New York.
A spokesperson for James’s office suggested that the former president is effectively trying to avoid justice.
“Multiple judges have dismissed Donald Trump’s baseless attempts to evade justice, and no number of lawsuits will deter us from pursuing this fraud,” the attorney general’s office said in a statement.
“We sued Donald Trump because he committed extensive financial fraud,” it added. “That fact hasn’t changed, and neither will our resolve to ensure that no matter how powerful or political one might be, no one is above the law.”
Sources
Former President Trump announces he is suing New York AG Letitia James
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