Trump sues AG Letitia James to Stop Her Investigation into His Business Dealings, James Shrugs

Former President Donald Trump filed a lawsuit in a federal court today to sue NY Attorney General Letitia James in an effort to put the brakes on her long-running civil investigation into his potentially questionable business practices.

Throughout her investigation, James has been reviewing whether the Trump Organization intentionally misreported the values of his assets for his own gains. 

For instance, James wonders whether Trump inflated his profits to receive favorable loan terms and minimized earnings to reap tax savings.

Trump’s lawyers, who filed the lawsuit on the former president’s behalf in a U.S. District Court in the Northern District of New York, argue that James’ inquiry, which has lasted more than two years, has violated the former president’s constitutional rights.

"Letitia James targets President Trump with a callous disregard for the ethical and moral obligations she swore to abide by when she became attorney general," Alina Habba, one of Trump’s lawyers, said in a statement.

Furthmore, Habba said that by filing the lawsuit, Trump’s legal team plans "to not only hold [James] accountable for her blatant constitutional violations, but to stop her bitter crusade to punish her political opponents in its tracks." 

Some say that Trump’s lawsuit reflects his response to James’ request that he testify for a Jan. 7 deposition, which is part of her ongoing civil investigation into his what may be his questionable business practices.

Responding to Trump’s lawsuit, James called the former president’s filing as just one more stalling tactic on his part.

"The Trump Organization has continually sought to delay our investigation into its business dealings and now Donald Trump and his namesake company have filed a lawsuit as an attempted collateral attack on that investigation," James said in the statement Monday.

"To be clear, neither Mr. Trump nor the Trump Organization get to dictate if and where they will answer for their actions," she continued. "Our investigation will continue undeterred because no one is above the law, not even someone with the name Trump."

(Photo by: Official White House Photo by Shealah Craighead)