New York Attorney General Letitia James requested legal sanctions against former President Donald Trump and the co-defendants who are tied to a $250 million lawsuit against Trump’s organization.
James asked a judge for the sanctions, which amount to $20,000, in court documents Tuesday. She claimed the former president has made the same legal argument five times, despite the argument being rejected by the courts three times and being referred to as “frivolous.” The two that have not been denied have not been ruled on yet because they were filed last month.
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James’s office noted that the court can impose sanctions on any party or lawyer in a civil action who engages in “frivolous conduct.”
The legal argument Trump’s team attempted to use is that the district attorney’s office does not have the standing or capacity to bring claims that Trump and his colleagues “grossly” inflated Trump’s net worth by billions of dollars.
James also accused the organization of cheating lenders and other people through false or misleading financial statements. The alleged fraud occurred beginning in 2011, and James filed the lawsuit last year.
“Since at least 2011, Defendants and others working on their behalf at the Trump Organization have falsely inflated by billions of dollars the value of many of the assets listed on Donald J. Trump’s annual statement of financial condition (‘SFC’), and hence his overall net worth for each of these years,” a filing last week stated.
“Mr. Trump, and in some years the trustees of his revocable trust, submitted these grossly inflated SFCs to banks and insurers to secure and maintain loans and insurance on more favorable terms, reaping hundreds of millions of dollars in ill-gotten savings and profits,” it added.
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James is seeking $250 million in damages for the case overall, but Trump’s attorneys vehemently denied the charges or any wrongdoing on the former president’s part. Trump’s two oldest sons, Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump, are also named in the sanction request with other prominent players in the family’s company.
Despite a couple of attempts to dismiss the case, a trial on the civil case will begin on Oct. 2.
