New York Attorney General Letitia James has filed charges of fraud against former President Donald Trump, his three grown children and numerous companies, organizations and individuals associated with the real estate and licensing business known in his name, following a three-year civil investigation.
“After an extensive, three-year investigation by my office, including the interview of more than 65 witnesses and the review of millions of documents submitted by Mr. Trump and others, I am announcing that today we are filing a lawsuit against Donald Trump. Violating the law as part of his efforts to make a profit for himself, his family and his company,” Ms James said at a press conference to announce the civil suit on Wednesday.
Ms James said the twice-impeached former president “defrauded us all” by “falsely inflating his net worth by billions of dollars to unjustly enrich himself and cheat the system”. He added that he did this with his children’s aides, Donald Trump Jr., Ivanka Trump and Eric Trump, as well as former Trump Organization CEO Allen Weiselberg and the Trump Organization comptroller.
“It wasn’t ‘Art of the Deal,’ it was The Art of Stealing,” Ms. James said, referring to Mr. Trump’s most famous book.
The indictment alleges that the former president made false statements in multiple filings with the help of his children Ivanka, Eric and Donald Trump Jr. in an attempt to obtain tax breaks and other benefits from insurers and financial institutions.
Ms. James alleged that the Trump Organization and its representatives made more than 200 false and misleading assessments of her assets over a 10-year period from 2011 to 2021.
The suit seeks to recover $250 million in lost revenue and penalties, as well as a judge’s order that would permanently bar Trump from holding any office with businesses in the state.
The civil suit against Mr. Trump, his family and his businesses is the latest legal challenge for the former president, who is currently facing criminal investigations by grand juries in multiple jurisdictions.
Mr. Trump has often criticized Ms. James and her office in numerous public statements and characterized her efforts — as well as those of other state and federal law enforcement authorities — as politically motivated investigations meant only to hurt him politically and advance Ms. James. own career
The case comes weeks before several of Mr Trump’s companies are set to go on trial in a Manhattan court for criminal tax law violations. Mr. Weiselberg, the former CFO of the Trump Organization, is expected to testify against his employer under a plea deal he reached to settle his own criminal tax charges.
Answer to the case, Donald Trump Jr. tweeted “The bulls**t dame witch-hunt continues.”
More to follow…
