Donald Trump has sued New York State Attorney General Letitia James for what he claims is a “relentless, pernicious, public and shameless crusade” against him, in the form of his recent civil action. court case against the former president and three of his adult children, Donald Jr, Ivanka and Eric.
Filed in Florida circuit court on Wednesday, the lawsuit says James’ lawsuit, which it announced at a dramatic press conference in September, will cause “great harm” to the company, brand and to the reputation of the thrice-married, often sued, twice-indicted former president and widely threatened by the law.
Thursday, The New York Times reported that Trump’s own lawyers sought to block him from filing what the newspaper called “a tirade of a lawsuit.”
The complaint begins: “Extraordinary wrongdoing requires extraordinary redress.
“James repeatedly abused her position as State Attorney General of New York to pursue a relentless, pernicious, public and shameless crusade against President Trump, a resident of Palm Beach County, Florida, with the stated purpose of destroying him personally, financially and politically.
“Suffice it to say, these actions are against New York and Florida law.”
The complaint also states that James’ suit “could virtually destroy [Trump’s] very profitable properties in Florida”.
James accuses the Trump Organization of overstating asset values in order to blind investors and lenders. If successful, his lawsuit would bar Trump and his three named children from a leadership position in New York, analysts say of the provision, which has the potential to bring down trump’s business empire.
Trump says no bank has missed payments from his company and says James’ lawsuit wouldn’t have been filed if he weren’t “leading in the polls by substantial margins against Democrats and Republicans”.
Most observers expect Trump to announce a third run for the White House this month, following the Nov. 8 midterm elections and possibly the Nov. 12 wedding of his fourth adult child, Tiffany. Trump, at his Mar-a-Lago resort.
In October, claiming Trump was engaging in “fraudulent practices” and fearing he was outsourcing business operations to avoid his prosecution, James asked a New York court to freeze the former president’s assets.
James also sought an order restraining all property-related activity and a fine of up to $250m (£224m), moves that would effectively bar Trump from the industry in which he has made a name for himself. .
The state attorney general is also seeking to prevent the Trump Organization from transferring or disposing of assets to third parties, and to secure the appointment of an independent monitor to review the company’s 2022 financial statements, in the hope of preventing accounting movements that could financially benefit the company.
In his countersuit, Trump sought an injunction against James, to compel him to cease all actions against him. He also repeatedly referenced James’ threats to sue him, a campaign to promise when she ran for office as a Democrat in 2018 and claimed she was involved in a political witch hunt – a familiar label applied by Trump to proliferating investigations into his financial and political conduct.
Trump had already filed one lawsuit against james, citing bias. The lawsuit filed Wednesday suggested further lawsuits could follow.
Reporting that Trump’s own attorneys ‘fiercely opposed’ the filing of the lawsuit, The New York Times said“The faction opposing the lawsuit told the Florida lawyers who drafted it on behalf of the former president that it was frivolous and would fail, according to people familiar with the case. The loudest objection came from the general counsel for Mr Trump’s real estate business, who warned Floridians could be committing malpractice.
“However, the complaint has been filed.”
In a statement late Wednesday, Trump bizarrely called New York attorney “Peekaboo” James and called his state, his home until he won the White House, “one of the most criminal places in the world.” world – with murders, robberies, drug dealing and all other forms of crime setting records on a weekly basis”.
He added: “While James is doing nothing to protect New York from these violent crimes and criminals, she is attacking big, honest businesses that have done nothing wrong, like the highly successful job-creating Trump Organization. and taxes, which I painstakingly constructed over a long period of years.
For good measure, Trump’s lawsuit also targeted a former key player in the Trump Organization: Michael Cohen, Trump’s former lawyer and fixer.
Cohen spent time in jail after admitting to fraud, campaign finance abuse and lying to Congress while serving Trump. He has since become one of Trump’s top critics and testified to alleged financial malpractices within the Trump Organization.
The lawsuit filed in Florida called Cohen a “discredited, disgraced and disgruntled former attorney.”