Politics & Finances

State of New York Sues Donald Trump For Fraud, Seeks $250 Million

State of New York Sues Donald Trump For Fraud, Seeks $250 Million

Former President Donald Trump's ongoing legal woes are no secret, and now the State of New York has added to the pile with a $250 million lawsuit.

New York Attorney General Letitia James officially sued Trump, three of his adult children, and the Trump Organization on Wednesday, September 21.

The bombshell 220-page filing alleges that, “Mr. Trump’s Statements of Financial Condition for the period 2011 through 2021 were fraudulent and misleading in both their composition and presentation."

CNBC reported details of the civil case, which was filed in Manhattan Supreme Court. In addition to attempting to recover $250 million in damages, James is seeking to "bar Trump, Donald Trump Jr., Eric Trump, and Ivanka Trump from serving as an officer of a company in New York, and permanently prohibit the Trump companies named in the suit from doing business in New York state."

According to James and her team, Trump "massively overstated" his assets in various financial statements to banks, insurance agencies, and the IRS in a bid to obtain more favorable terms. 

In an official statement, the Attorney General shared:

“For too long, powerful, wealthy people in this country have operated as if the rules do not apply to them."

“Donald Trump stands out as among the most egregious examples of this misconduct. With the help of his children and senior executives at the Trump Organization, Donald Trump falsely inflated his net worth by billions of dollars to unjustly enrich himself and cheat the system.”

This news comes soon after Trump returned to his Florida residence, Mar-a-Lago [above], following the August 8 FBI raid of the property. James, in fact, specifically addressed Mar-a-Lago in her commentary, saying that it "generated less than $25 million in annual revenue. It should have been valued at about $75 million, but it was valued at $739 million.”

Recently, the Department of Justice released a 36-page report relating to the now-infamous occurrence at Trump's Florida home. In the document, the DoJ confirms that Trump "likely obstructed" a government investigation with intent.

Following the release of the report, Trump retained former Florida solicitor Chris Kise, who has close ties to both Governor Ron DeSantis (R) and Senator Rick Scott (R).

Previously, the Washington Post reported that the FBI executed its search warrant after "federal authorities grew increasingly concerned that Trump or his lawyers and aides had not, in fact, returned all the documents and other material that were government property, according to people familiar with the discussions."

Trump -- a divisive figure even before the now-infamous January 6, 2021 attack on the United States Capitol -- has unsurprisingly weighed in before yesterday's Truth Social post, indicating that he hopes the Bureau didn't "plant evidence" during their search.

The former host of The Apprentice is also facing additional legal problems, as he has officially appealed a recent ruling that he must hand over his personal tax records to the IRS. 

Over the weekend, sitting President Joe Biden addressed the actions of certain Trump supporters, widely known as "MAGA Republicans" due to their use of Trump's presidential campaign slogan -- "Make America Great Again" -- as something of a tagline.

Ahead of today's motion, the New York Attorney General's office interviewed over 65 witnesses. You can read the full court filing here.

What do you think about the State of New York suing Donald Trump?

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Rebekah Barton

Rebekah Barton

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