The culmination of a years-long probe by the New York attorney general into dealings by the former president and his family has been cited as the basis for a civil suit filed today.
In addition to Trump, the suit names the Trump Organization and three of the former president’s adult children — Donald Trump Jr., Ivanka Trump and Eric Trump — who are senior executives at the company.
The lawsuit is the latest legal threat to Trump as he weighs another run for the presidency in 2024. Trump has been under intense scrutiny ever since his Florida home was searched last month by FBI agents who unearthed highly classified documents taken from the White House. The Justice Department continues to probe his actions preceding the Jan. 6 assault on the Capitol as well.
James’ case also comes just before the Trump Organization goes on trial on criminal tax-fraud charges next month. The company’s longtime Chief Financial Officer Allen Weisselberg, who pleaded guilty to similar charges in August, agreed to testify for the prosecution as part of a deal with Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg.
Trump has denied the allegations against him and long argued that the New York civil and criminal investigations were politically motivated. Like most elected officials in state, James and Bragg are both Democrats. Trump sued James in federal court, claiming her “harassing and overreaching” probe was tainted by her political animus toward the former president. A judge dismissed his case in May.
James has said she started the probe after Trump’s longtime lawyer and fixer Michael Cohen testified to Congress in 2019 that the Trump Organization regularly manipulated asset valuations to get favorable loans or tax benefits. Her office reviewed hundreds of thousands of Trump Organization records and interviewed numerous employees and lawyers involved in the company’s asset valuations to build her case.
