New York Attorney General Letitia James has asked the judge overseeing her $250m fraud lawsuit against Donald Trump, his three eldest children, and their eponymous real estate company to sanction the Trumps and their attorneys for “demonstrably false” statements made in a “verified” response to her complaint.
Ms James’ office cited denials of basic facts and statements that contradicted what the Trumps had said in other court filings and appearances in a letter to New York Supreme Court Justice Arthur Engoron seeking sanctions against the defendants and their attorney, Alina Habba.
“Defendants falsely deny facts they have admitted in other proceedings, they deny knowledge sufficient to respond to factual allegations that are plainly within their knowledge, and they propound affirmative defenses that have been repeatedly rejected by this Court as frivolous and without merit,” she said.
Specifically, she pointed to a repeated claim made by the Trumps, who in their answers to Ms James’ suit said there is no such entity as the “Trump Organization,” despite Mr Trump and his children referring to their company as such on many occasions.
She also noted that Mr Trump described himself as president of the Trump Organization during an October 2021 deposition, and said Ms Habba had introduced herself as representing the Trump Organization in a hearing before the same judge who is overseeing the fraud case.
According to Ms James’ filing, Ms Habba began her remarks that day by saying: “Good morning, Your Honor. Alina Habba for Trump Organization, Donald Trump, et cetera”.
The New York attorney general recalled that Judge Engoron had declined to impose sanctions on the Trumps earlier in the proceedings that led to the civil fraud suit, and asked him to not give them a pass once more.
“The Court has already admonished defendants and their counsel for their continued invocation of meritless legal claims but exercised its discretion in not imposing such sanctions ... it does not appear that this point was taken, however, and [the AG’s office] would ask the court to renew the issue,” she said.
