Trump sues NY Attorney General Letitia James in effort to halt probe into Trump Organization
Lawsuit claims AG investigation violates Trump's constitutional rights
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Former President Trump on Monday sued New York Attorney General Letitia James in federal court in an effort to halt her long-running civil investigation into his business practices.
The suit, filed in U.S. District Court in the Northern District of New York, argues that James’ inquiry into Trump’s business dealings, which has lasted for more than two years, has violated the former president’s constitutional rights.
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{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"Letitia James targets President Trump with a callous disregard for the ethical and moral obligations she swore to abide by when she became Attorney General," Trump attorney Alina Habba said in a statement Monday.
"She has short changed the state by commencing this partisan investigation and has forever tarnished the sanctity of her office," Habba added.
Habba said that by filing the lawsuit Monday, Trump’s legal team intends "to not only hold her accountable for her blatant constitutional violations, but to stop her bitter crusade to punish her political opponents in its tracks."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The lawsuit comes after James, earlier this month, sought Trump's testimony in the ongoing civil investigation into his business practices.
James' office reportedly requested that Trump sit for a deposition on Jan. 7.
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{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}James’ investigation has spanned for more than two years and is reviewing whether the Trump Organization misled banks or tax offices about the value of assets —inflating them to gain favorable loan terms or minimizing them to reap tax savings.
New York State Attorney General Letitia James speaks at a news conference, Tuesday, Aug. 3, 2021, in New York. (AP Photo/Ted Shaffrey)
After the lawsuit was filed, James released a statement slamming the filing as yet another "delay" in her probe.
"The Trump Organization has continually sought to delay our investigation into its business dealings and now Donald Trump and his namesake company have filed a lawsuit as an attempted collateral attack on that investigation," James said in the statement Monday.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"To be clear, neither Mr. Trump nor the Trump Organization get to dictate if and where they will answer for their actions," she continued. "Our investigation will continue undeterred because no one is above the law, not even someone with the name Trump."
The attorney general's office on Monday noted that in August 2020, James filed a motion to compel the Trump Organization to provide her office with documents and testimony from witnesses regarding various "specific" Trump Organization properties and transactions.
"Since then, the court has ruled in Attorney General James’ favor multiple times," her office said Monday.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The Associated Press contributed to this report.