Donald Trump Rages Against Letitia James: 'Lunatic'

Former President Donald Trump lashed out at New York Attorney General Letitia James on Sunday on social media, calling her a "lunatic" ahead of a final ruling in his civil fraud trial.

Trump is facing a civil fraud trial that was brought by James in 2022. In September, Judge Arthur Engoron, who is overseeing the case, issued a partial summary judgment ruling that Trump and top executives at The Trump Organization committed fraud. He held that the former president grossly inflated the value of his assets to obtain more favorable terms from lenders and insurers. James is asking for $370 million and for Trump to be permanently barred from doing business in New York. Trump has maintained his innocence and claimed the case is politically motivated as he is the GOP frontrunner in the 2024 presidential race.

Meanwhile, the trial ended in early January, with Engoron saying that he would try to have his ruling by January 31. However, a New York court spokesperson said last week that a verdict will not be reached until early to mid-February, adding that the new deadline is "subject to modifications."

In a post to Truth Social on Sunday, Trump took aim at the New York attorney general by sharing a video of James that featured statements she made about Trump and the case such as, "I will never be afraid to challenge this illegitimate president." The former president then slammed her in his post for bringing the case against him, adding that she is a "lunatic" and accusing her of working with President Joe Biden and the Department of Justice (DOJ).

"This is the Lunatic A.G. that's prosecuting me. Lawyers say there is No Way this should be allowed to happen. She is working closely with Crooked Joe Biden's DOJ, in order to harm his Political Opponent. Election Interference!" Trump wrote on Truth Social.

Despite Trump's comments, Biden and the DOJ have no role in James' case since it's a civil case.

Newsweek has reached out to Trump's spokesperson and James' office via email for comment.

This is not the first time the former president has taken aim at James regarding the case. Last month, speaking outside the courtroom, Trump, who was barred from speaking during the final arguments in the case, said he believed James should be held "criminally liable" for bringing the case against his company, arguing that it was not the first time she pursued a similar prosecution.

"She did this to Exxon and it drove Exxon out of New York," Trump told reporters. "Exxon paid billions of dollars in taxes. They're now living in Texas. Exxon is very happy in Texas. Other companies, because of what's happening here, are going to be moving out of New York also. This is an out of control attorney general."

However, Trump wrongly blamed her for the oil giant's exit from New York. Exxon moved its headquarters and 300 employees from Manhattan to Texas in 1989—almost three decades before James was elected attorney general, in 2018. The first African American and first woman to be elected to the position, she was reelected in 2022.

Trump's mix-up appears to stem from the groundbreaking civil lawsuit against Exxon that James took over in 2019 from her predecessor. She notably lost the case after a judge ruled that her office failed to prove that the company defrauded its investors about climate change's impact on the oil giant. The decision was a significant defeat for James, who was pursuing one of her first major cases in her new position.