Trump’s lawsuit against AG is tossed out

Donald Trump’s federal lawsuit challenging the authority of New York to investigate his real estate business was dismissed, the latest setback in efforts by the former president to halt the three-year-old probe.

Trump and his company failed to provide evidence that New York Attorney General Letitia James opened the investigation into potentially fraudulent asset valuations as a result of political bias against him, U.S. District Judge Brenda Sannes ruled Friday.

Trump had pointed to public statements by James, a Democrat, to suggest the probe was politically motivated, including a claim in a 2018 speech that Trump “can’t go a day without threatening our fundamental rights.” Sannes said that wasn’t enough.

“The fact that defendant’s public statements reflect personal and/or political animus toward plaintiffs is not, in and of itself, sufficient” to show that the probe itself was biased, Sannes, a Barack Obama appointee, said in the ruling.

“There is no question that we will be appealing this decision,” Trump’s lawyer, Alina Habba, said in a text message. James’s “egregious conduct” means the investigation is being carried out in “bad faith,” she said.

The decision Friday is a victory for James, who argued Trump filed the suit as a delay tactic after a state court judge repeatedly ruled that the investigation was proper. On Thursday, the attorney general’s subpoenas for sworn testimony from Trump and two of his children, Donald Trump Jr. and Ivanka Trump, were upheld by an appeals court.