Trump sues attorney-general to block fraud investigation

(File photo) Former president Donald Trump

Former president Donald Trump yesterday sued New York’s attorney-general in an attempt to stop her years-long civil probe into his business dealings, a court filing showed. The lawsuit filed in a federal court in upstate New York claims that Letitia James, a Democrat, is violating Trump’s constitutional rights with a politically motivated investigation. “By filing this lawsuit, we intend to not only hold her accountable for her blatant constitutional violations, but to stop her bitter fight to punish her political opponent in its tracks,” Trump’s attorney, Alina Habba, said in a statement. “Her mission is 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 statement added. James is probing whether the Trump Organisation may have illegally reported false values on its properties, potentially to gain banking and tax advantages. In a statement released yesterday, James described Trump’s lawsuit as “an attempted collateral attack” on the probe. “Our investigation will continue undeterred because no one is above the law, not even someone with the name Trump,” she said. Trump’s lawsuit comes after the Washington Post reported earlier this month that James had asked him to testify in person at her office on January 7. She launched the investigation in March 2019 and suspects that the Trump Organisation fraudulently overstated the value of certain properties when seeking bank loans, and later reported much smaller values when declaring assets so it could pay less tax. Trump’s son Eric, who is executive vice president of the Trump Organisation, was interviewed by James’ office on the issue in October 2020. The former president is facing pressure from several legal probes. He was questioned for more than four hours on October 18 as part of a lawsuit by a group of protestors who allege that his security guards assaulted them six years ago. The Trump Organisation is also under investigation by the Manhattan district attorney for possible financial crimes and insurance fraud. In July, the Trump Organisation and its long-serving finance chief, Allen Weisselberg pleaded not guilty in a New York court to 15 felony fraud and tax evasion charges. That trial will begin in mid-2022. Trump meanwhile is battling to prevent years of his tax returns from being released to prosecutors. And in Washington he is trying to prevent a congressional probe into the January 6 attack by his supporters on the US Capitol from accessing White House records related to that day.