by Sharon Rondeau
(Nov. 2, 2022) — On his TruthSocial platform Wednesday night, 45th President of the United States Donald J. Trump announced and posted a link to a lawsuit filed today against New York Attorney General Letitia James (D), whose campaign pledge four years ago was to “investigate Trump.”
In September, James filed suit on behalf of the People of the State of New York against the Trump Organization and Trump’s three eldest children, who run the New York-based company, alleging it “engaged in numerous acts of fraud and misrepresentation in the preparation of Mr. Trump’s annual statements of financial condition” over a minimum of ten years. At the same time, James referred the defendants to the IRS and Manhattan district attorney’s office for criminal investigation.
Trump, his attorneys and company spokesmen deny the allegations and claim they are politically-motivated.
During James’s “investigation” preceding the filing of the lawsuit, Trump appeared for a deposition but invoked his Fifth Amendment right to refrain from answering questions to avoid self-incrimination.
James is seeking a judgment of $250 million against the defendants.
She currently seeks re-election to a second term Tuesday against Republican challenger Michael Henry. Initially, James registered to run for New York governor but withdrew her candidacy, claiming, “I’ve got too much work to do.”
“Today, I filed a lawsuit in Florida State Circuit Court against the corrupt Attorney General of New York State, Letitia ‘Peekaboo’ James,” Trump wrote in the first of a four-part comment. “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. While James does nothing to protect New York against these violent crimes and criminals, she attacks great and upstanding businesses…”
The post continues:
“…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. Crooked and highly partisan James now thinks it is the business of the State of New York to go after my revocable trust and pry into my private estate plan, only to look for ways to recklessly injure me, my family, my businesses, and my tens of millions of supporters…
…If I were not elected President of the United States, and now leading in the polls by substantial margins against both Democrats and Republicans, this would not be happening. We have to stand up for our Country, fight against illegal persecution, and Make America Great Again!
He concluded by posting a link to the suit which when clicked, results in an automatic download of the 41-page document.
Its opening statement reads:
Extraordinary wrongdoing requires extraordinary relief. As set forth below, James has repeatedly abused her position as Attorney General for the State of New York to pursue a relentless, pernicious, public, and unapologetic crusade against President Trump, a resident of Palm Beach County, Florida, with the stated goal of destroying him personally, financially, and politically. Suffice it to say that these actions are contrary to both the laws of New York and Florida.
Wednesday’s filing is not Trump’s first lawsuit challenging James’s investigations into his company and holdings. In late January, he challenged James’s probe, alleging it “violated his constitutional rights in a ‘thinly-veiled effort to publicly malign Trump and his associates.'”
One of the items James’s office has sought is documentation on a revocable trust which her office claims encompasses “part of the operating business enterprise that is the Trump Organization” (p. 38).
“The Donald J. Trump Revocable Trust, in general, holds the entities and properties that comprise the Trump Organization,” New York Assistant Attorney General Colleen Fanerty wrote in an email to Trump attorney Alina Habba on September 8. “As a trust, its trustee or trustees are its responsible officials, and a trust typically is governed by the terms set by the grantor in the grant or otherwise later agreed to. Since the trust’s business assets have been included within the trust for more than five years, all documents governing the trust’s operation, the responsibilities of its trustees and other officials, etc., plainly are pertinent to OAG’s investigation. There is no basis to withhold any such documents from production.”
“Using the Civil Action,” Trump’s attorneys wrote on pages 2-3 of the suit, “James seeks unprecedented oversight of President Trump’s business and financial affairs — including control over President Trump’s Florida revocable trust1 — as she grandstands in demanding $250 million in ‘restitution’ for the people of New York. In truth, James knows that no restitution is owed but seeks only attention for herself and retribution against President Trump.”
To read the lawsuit without downloading, click here: https://cdn.nucleusfiles.com/0b/0bc6322b-1a31-4a9c-b3c4-4fd79a384a2c/160520052-complaint.pdf?_nlid=mMKKszh48u&_nhids=%25recipient.hids%25
Trump’s comments on TruthSocial also appeared in a formal announcement from his political organization, “Save America”:
That skank is more interested in punishing President Trump for opposing tyranny than she is in doing her job to punish criminals!!!!! She coddles murderers, rapists, thieves, and vandals while persecuting political opponents!!!!! This IS NOT what America stands for, or stood for when it was “a shining city on a hill”!!!!!!!!!!