Weisselberg`s lawyer, Nicholas Gravante, declined to comment. The New York attorney general`s retrial came during a week in which the former president`s lawyers fought in federal court to block Justice Department efforts to investigate the discovery of highly sensitive national security cases at his Mar-a-Lago property. Federal prosecutors are also bringing former Trump advisers and allies before a grand jury investigating his efforts to undermine the 2020 election, and an Atlanta grand jury is reaching a critical stage in its own election-related investigation. However, some legal experts have questioned the value of the lawsuit. Trump refused to answer questions during closed-door testimony at the attorney general`s office on Aug. 10, invoking his right to self-incrimination under the Fifth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution more than 400 times. On Wednesday, his legal team reiterated that claim. Trump`s lawyer, Alina Habba, said the trial “focuses neither on the facts nor on the law, but focuses solely on advancing the attorney general`s political agenda,” accusing James of abusing his authority “by infiltrating transactions where absolutely no wrongdoing was committed.” New York`s attorney general is investigating whether President Trump`s company misled lenders and tax authorities by inappropriately inflating the value of its assets, according to a court filing Monday. James began his investigation in 2019 after Trump`s former fixer and personal lawyer, Michael Cohen, testified before Congress that Trump inflated the value of some assets to obtain loans and insurance, and undervalued others to obtain tax benefits. Trump was plagued by legal problems. The FBI conducted a search of Mar-a-Lago on Aug.
8 as part of a criminal investigation into its handling of presidential records, including classified documents. Beyond the continuation of this fraud, the Trump Organization appears to be taking steps to restructure its activities in order to evade prosecution by the OAG. On September 21, 2022, the same day the OAG filed its lawsuit, the Trump Organization registered a new entity with the New York Secretary of State: “Trump Organization II LLC.” This entity is a foreign corporation incorporated in Delaware. The Trump Organization has since refused to give assurances that it would not seek to move assets out of New York to avoid legal liability. BERNSTEIN: So we won`t know until we see Trump`s legal documents. And as we saw in the investigation into the secret documents at Mar-a-Lago, there is a light between what Trump says at rallies or on Truth Social and what his lawyers say in court. But we know this – New York State Supreme Court Justice Arthur Engiron has repeatedly denied the defense of the witch hunt in his decisions on this same investigation. Letitia James, a Democrat, ran for office and said she would investigate Trump. But the judge said their statements and political views were irrelevant. What matters are the facts and the law. Investigators from the attorney general`s office traveled to Bedford, met with city officials and reviewed documents, including Trump Organization application forms for the proposed development.
The attorney general`s office also subpoenaed a city official, whom Sachs would not name. In early July, the officer gave investigators a six- or seven-hour statement, in which Sachs participated, he said. He is the “most knowledgeable” official about Trump`s property, he said. New York Attorney General Letitia James has filed a lawsuit against former President Donald Trump, three of his adult children and his business empire, accusing them of engaging in large-scale fraudulent financial practices and banning them from real estate transactions for the next five years. While the New York trial is not a prosecution, James` referral to federal prosecutors in the Southern District of New York threatens another serious legal threat to the former president and his three adult children. The attorney general`s office noted that it filed the case with the court on Friday, but was not released until Monday. It is demanding about $250 million in allegedly illegal profits from the program, as well as a five-year ban for former President Donald Trump Jr., Ivanka Trump and Eric Trump from participating in real estate transactions — a restriction that would mean the end of the Trump real estate empire. In addition, it seeks a permanent ban on the former president and his family members involved in his business ventures from serving as directors or officers of a New York corporation or a state-licensed corporation. “Today`s filing is not focused on the facts or the law — it focuses solely on advancing the attorney general`s policy agenda,” said Trump`s lawyer, Alina Habba.
“It is abundantly clear that the Attorney General`s office exceeded its legal authority by interfering in transactions where absolutely no wrongdoing occurred. We are confident that our justice system will not tolerate this unchecked abuse of power, and we look forward to defending our client against each of the Attorney General`s unfounded allegations. This is not Trump`s first battle with a New York attorney general. “Our investigation has revealed the fact that Donald Trump and the Trump Organization committed significant fraud to inflate his personal wealth by billions of dollars in order to illegally enrich himself and cheat the system,” Attorney General James said. “Since we filed this sweeping lawsuit last month, Donald Trump and the Trump Organization have continued the same fraudulent practices and taken steps to evade accountability. Today, we want an immediate halt to these actions, because Mr. Trump should not play by any other rules. New York state`s attorney general on Wednesday filed a sweeping lawsuit against former President Donald Trump, three of his adult children and the Trump Organization, saying they were involved in a widespread fraud that lasted more than a decade and that the former president used to get rich.
