New York AG Seeks Immediate Partial Judgment, No Trial, in $250 Million Fraud Lawsuit Against Trump
New York Attorney General Letitia James is seeking an immediate partial summary judgment in her multimillion-dollar civil lawsuit against former President Donald Trump, court documents show.
Documents dated Aug. 30 show Ms. James urged Judge Arthur Engoron to issue a summary judgment on one of seven claims in her 200-page civil lawsuit filed against President Trump, the Trump Organization, and three of his adult children in 2022, alleging "years of financial fraud to obtain a host of economic benefits."
In her lawsuit, the Ms. James claimed that over a 10-year period, from 2011 through 2021, President Trump and the other defendants had "engaged in numerous acts of fraud and misrepresentation in the preparation of Mr. Trump’s annual statements of financial condition," which included deceiving insurers, tax officials, and lenders by allegedly inflating the value of his properties including his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida.
The lawsuit followed a three-year investigation by Ms. James's office, which she said involved "more than 65 witnesses and review of millions of pages of documents produced by defendants and others."
Ms. James, a Democrat, is seeking $250 million in penalties, and wants to ban President Trump from doing business in New York, from engaging in real estate acquisitions in the state for five years, and for Mr. Trump and his children to be barred from serving as high-level executives at any company in New York.
(R–L) Barron Trump, then-First Lady Melania Trump, then-President Donald Trump, Tiffany Trump, Donald Trump Jr., Kimberly Guilfoyle, Lara Trump, Eric Trump, Ivanka Trump, Jared Kushner, and Michael Boulos stand after the president delivered his acceptance speech for the Republican Party nomination for reelection during the final day of the Republican National Convention at the South Lawn of the White House, on Aug. 27, 2020. (Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images)
'Overwhelming Evidence' Establishing Fraud
The civil case is scheduled to go to trial on Oct. 2.
However, Ms. James is asking the judge to declare in advance of that trial that President Trump committed fraud by submitting false statements to bankers and insurers and overstating his wealth by between 17–39 percent each year, or between $812 million to $2.2 billion.
"Based on the overwhelming amount of evidence establishing beyond dispute that Defendants’ repeated and persistent fraudulent use of the false and misleading SFCs [statement of financial condition] in connection with business transactions with banks and insurers, the People are entitled to summary judgment in their favor finding Defendants liable as a matter of law on the People’s First Cause of Action for fraud under Executive Law," the court document states.
In order to make the summary judgment, Judge Engoron simply needs to answer two "simple and straightforward" questions, according to Ms. James' office: Were President Trump's financial statements from 2011 to 2021 false or misleading? Did the defendants in the case repeatedly or persistently use those statements in the conduct of business transactions?
"The answer to both questions is a resounding 'yes' based on the mountain of undisputed evidence," cited in her lawsuit, Ms. James' office wrote.
"At the end of the day, this is a documents case, and the documents leave no shred of doubt that Mr. Trump’s SFCs do not even remotely reflect the ‘estimated current value’ of his assets as they would trade between well-informed market participants," the court document stated.
Booking photo of former President Donald Trump as he was booked and released on bond at the Fulton County Jail in Atlanta, Ga., on Aug. 24, 2023. (Fulton County Sheriff’s Office)
Trump Lawyers Urge Court to Dismiss Case
President Trump, who is running for office again in 2024, has denied wrongdoing, as have three of his children—Ivanka Trump, and Eric and Donald Trump Jr.
Just hours after Ms. James asked the judge to issue a partial summary judgment, lawyers for President Trump and the other defendants filed their own papers with the court seeking to dismiss the entire case, Reuters reports.
Citing a recent appellate court decision, lawyers for President Trump argued that many of the transactions Ms. James's lawsuit is centered on are barred by a statute of limitations as they took place long ago to be reviewed in court.
In addition, his lawyers argued that the attorney general provided no proof that anyone was harmed by the remainder, according to the publication.
President Trump is facing mounting litigation as he campaigns for office again, and has been indicted four times in the last five months, including the most recent indictment charging him with racketeering and conspiracy charges following his alleged efforts to challenge the results of the 2020 presidential election in Georgia.
The former president recently shared his "terrible experience" of being booked into the Fulton County Jail in Atlanta, Georgia, on Aug. 24 after surrendering himself to authorities following his indictment.
He has also been indicted including in Florida over his alleged mishandling of classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago estate, and also his efforts to challenge the results of the 2020 election and the violence that erupted during the Jan. 6, 2021, breach of the U.S. Capitol. Further, Mr. Trump has been charged with allegedly falsifying business records related to hush money paid on his behalf to adult actress Stormy Daniels.
President Trump, who is the leading GOP candidate, has denied any wrongdoing and has called the cases against him a politically motivated witch hunt.
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