Former President Donald Trump came out swinging against New York Attorney General Letitia James for asking a state judge to hold him in contempt and hit him with a $10,000 per day fine.
“This is just a continuation of the greatest Witch Hunt of all time, by a failed Attorney General, who continues to use her office for political gain following a disastrous and embarrassing attempt to run for Governor, in which she only received a 3% approval rating, and was forced to drop out of the race by her own party, in disgrace,” Mr. Trump said in a statement Thursday evening.
“Letitia James is no longer working as Attorney General,” he said, “she is an operative for the Democrat Party in a political prosecution.”
Mr. Trump’s ire followed Ms. James filing a motion to hold him in contempt for missing a March 31 deadline to comply with a court order to turn over documents as part of the AG’s investigation into his company’s financial dealings.
“The judge’s order was crystal clear,” Ms. James said in a statement when petitioning the court on Thursday. “Instead of obeying a court order, Mr. Trump is trying to evade it. We are seeking the court’s immediate intervention because no one is above the law.”
As part of her contempt request, Ms. James is also seeking a $10,000 fine for each day that Mr. Trump allegedly refuses to submit the documents. Mr. Trump and two of his children, Donald Trump Jr. and Ivanka Trump, were ordered in February to comply with a subpoena seeking documents and information.
Ms. James has been investigating the Trump Organization for years regarding potential civil fraud, specifically that the company allegedly deflated its value for tax purposes while inflating it for loans. Ms. James has previously said her office has evidence “showing that Donald J. Trump and the Trump Organization used fraudulent and misleading financial statements to obtain economic benefit.”
Ms. James stated in her contempt motion that the Trump Organization “is not presently searching any of Mr. Trump’s custodial files or devices, and has no intention of doing so between now and April 15, 2022.”
She also said there is reason to believe Mr. Trump’s attorneys won’t comply “because his counsel (based on search efforts that have not been divulged) could not find any such documents.”
• Ramsey Touchberry can be reached at rtouchberry@washingtontimes.com.
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