New York Attorney General Letitia James filed a motion on Wednesday (Jan. 26) asking a judge to dismiss Former President Donald Trump’s suit against her.
In her filing on Wednesday, James pointed to the “timing” of Trump’s lawsuit and claims it’s a “distraction” from her office’s years-long civil tax fraud investigation into the Trump Organization.
“The timing of this lawsuit against the Attorney General — coming only as OAG is nearing a conclusion of its investigation, is contemplating the filing of an enforcement action and has sought Mr. Trump’s sworn testimony — belies any notion that there is any objective behind this suit other than distraction and delay,” the filing read, per NBC News.
James further pointed out that at “no point, despite having ample opportunity to do so… did the Trump Organization or Mr. Trump ever challenge the underlying legal basis for the investigation or OAG’s statutory authority to conduct the investigation. Until now — only after Mr. Trump was served with a subpoena.”
Trump’s lawsuit, which he filed against James in December, claimed the A.G.’s investigation into the Trump Organization is politically motivated and accused her of violating his constitutional rights.
“Her mission is guided solely by political animus and a desire to harass, intimidate and retaliate against a private citizen who she views as a political opponent,” his suit read, according to The New York Times.
In her filing Wednesday, James disputed this, saying her office has found “substantial evidence establishing numerous misrepresentations in Mr. Trump’s financial statements provided to banks, insurers and the Internal Revenue Service.”
James previously subpoenaed Trump and two of his children, Ivanka Trump and Donald Trump Jr., for her investigation. Earlier this month, the A.G. accused all three Trumps of ignoring her “amply warranted” subpoenas for sworn testimony, adding in a court filing, “This game must end.”