New York Attorney General Letitia James’s office said in a filing on Monday its civil lawsuit seeking $250 million against former President Donald Trump—the Republican 2024 presidential frontrunner—is “ready for trial.”
The civil case is scheduled to go to trial on Oct. 2. New York Supreme Court Judge Arthur Engoron has previously rejected attempts by President Trump’s attorneys to delay the trial.
The suit, launched September 2022, alleged that President Trump and others at the Trump Organization “falsely inflated his net worth by billions of dollars” to induce banks to lend money “on more favorable terms than would otherwise have been available to the company.”
The lawsuit alleged “years of financial fraud to obtain a host of economic benefits.” It accuses President Trump of having fraudulently manipulated asset valuations, including his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida, his Trump Tower penthouse in Manhattan, and his own net worth, for about a decade between 2011 and 2021.
Besides seeking a fine of at least $250 million in “restitution” for the people of New York, Ms. James also wants the Trump Organization to be barred from doing business in New York.
She furthermore wants the former president to be barred from engaging in real estate acquisitions in the state for five years and for the Trumps to be barred from serving as high-level executives at any New York company.
President Trump, the Trump Organization, three of his children—Ivanka Trump, and Eric and Donald Trump Jr.—and others have denied any wrongdoing. President Trump has also called the lawsuit a politically motivated attack. The Trumps have all sat for depositions in the case.
The civil suit adds to President Trump’s other legal challenges, including three indictments, the latest of which was dealt on Tuesday in relation to President Trump’s efforts to challenge the results of the 2020 presidential election.
