New York Atty. Gen. Letitia James is seeking a hefty fine of over $370M in the civil fraud trial against former President Donald Trump.
In a written brief filed a week before closing arguments, James alleges a decade-long fraudulent business conduct by Trump and his associates.
Lifetime ban
James is also urging the judge to impose a lifetime ban on Trump, along with former Trump Organization executives Allen Weisselberg and Jeffrey McConney, from participating in the New York real estate industry.
She advocates for the lifetime ban on Trump from the real estate industry to prevent future fraud.
James also claims that the Trump Organization under Eric and Donald Trump Jr. lacks effective leadership and should be monitored by the court for at least five years.
$370M fine
The requested fine of $370 million, a substantial increase from the initial ask of $250 million, is justified by James, who argues that Trump and his associates knowingly engaged in fraud and personally benefited from it.
The fine includes costs related to allegedly fraudulent business loans and profits from deals like the renovation of the Old Post Office Building in Washington, D.C., and the sale of Trump’s Ferry Point golf course.
Politically-motivated persecution
Trump’s defense team, countering James’ claims, describes the request for disgorgement as politically motivated persecution.
They argue that the attorney general’s theory is fundamentally flawed, emphasizing the lack of evidence showing lenders would have acted differently with knowledge of Trump’s misstatements.
Trump’s lawyers also assert that the attorney general lacks the authority to request disgorgement under New York Executive Law 63(12).
Trump has consistently rejected any allegations of wrongdoing in the matter, dismissing the lawsuit as a politically motivated “witch hunt.”
As the trial unfolds, the AG’s office maintains that the defendants intended to defraud in preparing Trump’s financial statements, citing outrageous deceptive schemes employed to inflate asset values and conceal facts.
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