Don’s dillydally lawsuit
Files against Tish in bid to stop probe of his business
Donald Trump filed a lawsuit Monday against state Attorney General Letitia James in an attempt to pause her long-running civil probe into possible fraud by the former president’s sprawling family business.
The suit, which arrived after James’ office requested testimony from Trump, paints the investigation as politically motivated and claims James’ office issued “overreaching and irrelevant” subpoenas.
James, a Democrat who dropped out of the New York governor’s race this month, opened the investigation into the Trump Organization in 2019 after Michael Cohen, Trump’s onetime lawyer, said the Queensborn Republican had inflated his assets in financial documents.
James’ office is also working with the Manhattan district attorney in a criminal investigation into the Trump Organization.
The lawsuit filed Monday said James’ probes are “guided solely by political animus and a desire to harass, intimidate, and retaliate against a private citizen who she views as a political opponent.”
“The investigations commenced by James are in no way connected to legitimate law enforcement goals, but rather, are merely a thinly-veiled effort to publicly malign Trump and his associates,” said the 30-page suit, which was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of New York.
The suit asked the court to “immediately cease or, at a minimum, appropriately limit” James’ investigations into Trump.
James quickly accused Trump of engaging in stall tactics. “Our investigation will continue undeterred because no one is above the law, not even someone with the name Trump,” she said in a statement.
In a statement Monday, Trump countered that the lawsuit “is not about delay, this is about our Constitution! You are nothing but a corrupt official doing the dirty work of your party.”
Legal experts, meanwhile, expressed skepticism at the former commander-in-chief’s complaint and described his effort as unusual and premature.
“It seems like political theater,” said Gregory Germain, a professor at Syracuse University Law School, adding that Trump’s complaint appeared “very unlikely to succeed.”
Barbara McQuade, a professor at the University of Michigan
Law School and a former federal prosecutor, called the suit a “cheap publicity stunt.”
“Until she files charges, he has not suffered a legally cognizable harm,” McQuade said. “It seems that any lawyer who did even a little bit of research would know that this is not a valid use of the court.”
The suit outlined a lengthy history of comments criticizing Trump made by James, a former city councilwoman from Brooklyn who previously served as New York City’s public advocate.
The court papers claim that James “lacked any basis to investigate Trump” and that she has turned her office into the “right arm” of the Democratic Party.
James’ probe into the Trump
Organization has drawn criticism for its glacial pace, but it has faced roadblocks.
Eric Trump, executive vice president of the Trump Organization, at one point refused to provide testimony. He ultimately took questions after a judge ordered him to sit for a deposition.
James’ office has repeatedly criticized the Trump Organization over its responses to subpoenas as part of the civil investigation. The civil probe cannot produce criminal charges, but it could lead to a lawsuit.
Alina Habba, an attorney for Trump, said in a statement on Monday that James had exhibited “callous disregard” for the ethical obligations of her post.
“She has shortchanged the state by commencing this partisan investigation and has forever tarnished the sanctity of her office,” Habba said in the statement. “By filing this lawsuit, we intend to not only hold her accountable for her blatant constitutional violations, but to stop her bitter crusade.”
James suggested Trump was attempting to use his name and power to freeze the probe. She vowed it would not work.
“The Trump Organization has continually sought to delay our investigation into its business dealings,” James said in the statement. “To be clear, neither Mr. Trump nor the Trump Organization get to dictate if and where they will answer for their actions.”