New York Attorney General Letitia James has filed a 220-page civil lawsuit against former president Donald Trump, three of his children (Donald Jr., Eric, and Ivanka), and their eponymous real estate company for allegedly manipulating the value of company assets and deceiving investors and lenders with false financial statements “to obtain beneficial terms.” Between 2011 and 2021, the defendants made more than 200 fraudulent and deceptive asset assessments in financial documents, according to James.
The complaint is the result of an acrimonious, lengthy civil probe that James promised to unleash while campaigning for her role as AG in 2018. Now campaigning for re-election James is trying to get the former president and his business to pay a hefty price. Her complaint requests that the Trumps be removed as the Trump Organization’s leaders and that a judge appoint an impartial monitor to oversee the organization’s financial procedures. Additionally, James wants to prohibit the Trumps from buying property in New York for five years.
Trump and his legal team have eschewed James’ lawsuit as just another “witch hunt.” But James alleges that the Trumps’ false financial statements allowed the company to acquire $2 billion, which she now wants it to return. It’s worth noting that none of the financial institutions involved in any of these transactions have ever claimed to be harmed by the Trump Organization’s alleged wrongdoings. If James has her way, Trump and his children could be prohibited from holding executive or director positions with any New York-based business in perpetuity.