New York Attorney General Seeks Injunction Against Trump
NEW YORK — Donald Trump will learn on Halloween whether a New York judge grants the state attorney general’s request to block the Trump Organization from taking steps that might evade a lawsuit.
The judge set a hearing for Oct. 31 to decide whether to impose a preliminary injunction on the Trump Organization prohibiting its top officials from what the attorney general calls “fraudulent or illegal acts.”
The hearing would be a follow-up to New York Attorney General Letitia James’ lawsuit that accuses Trump of collecting $250 million of ill-gotten gain through misrepresentations to financial institutions.
She asked a Delaware court for the injunction to prevent Trump from shifting money from New York to a new corporation he registered the same day the lawsuit was filed.
She also asked for a court-appointed monitor to ensure Trump or his associates do not engage in fraud.
James’ original lawsuit filed last month says Trump fraudulently misrepresented the value of his assets to cheat on taxes and to obtain favorable terms for insurance and loans. It mentioned a 2021 Trump Organization financial statement that listed the value of golf clubs and the Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida.
It also said Trump “continues to treat $93 million held in a Vornado partnership as his own cash.”
Vornado Realty Trust is a real estate investment trust with its primary office in New York City. The company invests in office buildings and street retail in Manhattan.
On the same day James filed the lawsuit, Trump registered a company in New York called Trump Organization II LLC. It was incorporated in Delaware, where the laws are known to be protective of corporations.
“When [the Office of the Attorney General] raised its concern that the Trump Organization may be seeking to move assets out of state … the Trump Organization offered no assurances,” James’ filing for an injunction says.
The lawsuit she filed Sept. 21 sought return of $250 million she says Trump, his children and corporate executives gained through a decadelong scheme that included misleading banks.
The lawsuit seeks to permanently stop the Trumps from doing business in New York by revoking their business certificates and banning them from serving as corporate officers. It also requests a court order stripping the Trump Organization of its right to obtain loans or to acquire real estate for five years.
“Donald Trump falsely inflated his net worth by billions of dollars to unjustly enrich himself and to cheat the system, thereby cheating all of us,” James said at a Sept. 21 news conference.
On Thursday, she said in a statement, “Since we filed this sweeping lawsuit last month, Donald Trump and the Trump Organization have continued those same fraudulent practices and taken measures to evade responsibility. Today, we are seeking an immediate stop to these actions because Mr. Trump should not get to play by different rules.”
She said she was concerned Trump would reorganize his business empire in a way that allows him to continue hiding assets by shifting them between business entities.
State attorneys tried to demonstrate a pattern of secretive behavior by Trump as evidence an injunction is needed. They referred to a deposition Trump gave in the summer during a separate lawsuit in which he repeatedly invoked his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination by refusing to answer questions.
An attorney for the Trump Organization called James’ request for an injunction a political stunt to help her chances at getting reelected.
“We have repeatedly provided assurance, in writing, that the Trump Organization has no intention of doing anything improper,” attorney Alina Habba said in a statement.
She also accused James of “judge-shopping” to increase her chances of winning by filing for the injunction in a division of the New York Supreme Court where the Trump Organization has struggled previously against regulatory enforcement. Habba wants the case transferred to a commercial division that deals often with high-value corporate cases.
James filed for the injunction on the same day a congressional committee voted to subpoena Trump about potentially criminal behavior in trying to overturn the 2020 presidential election to maintain his role as president.
The case is New York v. Donald J. Trump et al. in the Supreme Court of the State of New York, County of New York.
Tom can be reached at [email protected] and @TomRamstack
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