President Donald Trump’s attorneys say that New York Attorney General Letitia James has ‘no valid authority’ to sue the former president.
A member of former President Donald Trump’s legal team said that New York Attorney General Letitia James doesn’t have a case as she pursues a civil lawsuit that alleges former commander-in-chief committed fraud.
During a hearing at a New York state court last week, President Trump’s attorneys said that Ms. James, a Democrat, has “no valid authority” to sue the former president. They contended that the lawsuit filed by the attorney general was outside the statute of limitations and also “failed to demonstrate any even theoretical harm to anyone, public or private,” according to reporters.
Ms. James’s case is “out of context,” Trump attorney Christopher Kise also said in the hearing. Mr. Kise said that the former president and other defendants involved in the Trump Organization didn’t commit fraud and said the attorney general’s arguments, according to him, essentially are “Believe me, this is fraud.”
State Justice Arthur Engoron is considering arguments by President Trump, his sons Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump, and the Trump Organization that the case should be thrown out because there was no fraud, no one was harmed, and the claims are too old. But Ms. James has argued that a ruling should be handed down before the trial starts that the defendants are liable for fraud.
The judge plans to rule on Sept. 26 on both sides’ motions, and suggested that bigger principles are at stake. “We’re talking about fairness and honesty in the marketplace,” he said at the hearing, which lasted nearly five hours. “The fact that nobody was hurt doesn’t mean the case gets dismissed.”
Ms. James wants at least $250 million in penalties, and to bar the the Trumps from running businesses in New York. The former president and his sons have denied any wrongdoing, accusing the attorney general of engaging in a politically motivated attack against them.
