Former President Trump announces he is suing New York AG Letitia James
NEW YORK (WABC) -- Former President Donald Trump announced that he is suing New York Attorney General Letitia James.
Trump announced the lawsuit on the Truth Social platform on Wednesday night.
He said he filed the lawsuit in Florida against James and that, "New York State is one of the most crime-ridden places on earth."
Trump said that James does nothing to protect New York against the crimes and the criminals. The lawsuit says that she has abused her position as AG "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."
Trump released the following statement:
"Today, I filed a lawsuit in Florida State Circuit Court against the corrupt Attorney General of New York State, Letitia "Peekaboo" James. 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 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!"
Trump and the Trump Organization are defendants in a lawsuit brought by James, who alleges that Trump and the company inflated his net worth by billions of dollars and misled banks and others for years about the value of various assets.
The former president's lawsuit against James comes the same week that his company, the Trump Organization, is on trial for criminal tax fraud - on the hook for what prosecutors say was a 15-year scheme by his most trusted lieutenant to avoid paying taxes on those fringe benefits.
The tax fraud case is the only criminal trial to arise from the Manhattan district attorney's three-year investigation of the former president and is one of three active cases involving Trump or the company in New York courts.
A spokeswoman for James issued the following statement:
"Multiple judges have dismissed Donald Trump's baseless attempts to evade justice, and no number of lawsuits will deter us from pursuing this fraud. We sued Donald Trump because he committed extensive financial fraud. That fact hasn't changed, and neither will our resolve to ensure that no matter how powerful or political one might be, no one is above the law."
If convicted, the Trump Organization could be fined more than $1 million and could face difficulty in securing new loans and deals. Some partners and government entities could seek to cut ties with the company. It could also hamper its ability to do business with the U.S. Secret Service, which sometimes pays the company for lodging and services while protecting Trump as a former president.
RELATED | 'Vicious, biased': Trump assails judge in NY fraud lawsuit days before case's first court hearing
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