New York Attorney General Letitia James said in a court filing she wants to go to trial in the state’s fraud lawsuit against Donald J. Trump and the Trump Organization by the end of next year.
James filed a letter with a New York state judge Thursday saying she intends to seek an expedited conference to set the trial date.
Because the case “involves allegations of an ongoing scheme and conspiracy to obtain obtain millions of dollars through fraudulent activity, and that defendants repeatedly have sought to delay the conclusion of OAG’s investigation, it is imperative that this case proceed quickly,” James said.
Last week, James sued Trump, three of his children and the family company, accusing them of inflating the value of his real estate company’s assets. Trump has said the case is “another witch hunt by James.”
Her filing Thursday was a response to a request by Trump to move the case assigned to the Commercial Division of New York State Supreme Court, which handles complicated business cases. It was assigned to New York State Supreme Court Justice Arthur Engoron on Thursday.
Engoron has been overseeing a parallel dispute during the past two years over subpoenas issued by the state, and the case should remain with him “in the interest of judicial economy,” James said.
“While the legal issues before Justice Engoron were tied to the enforcement of investigative subpoenas, the factual issues overlapped almost completely with the allegations in the complaint in this action,” the attorney general said.
