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The New York attorney general who is suing Donald Trump over claims he fraudulently inflated his net worth has suggested that there is so much evidence against the former president that a trial is not even necessary.
Letitia James is seeking a summary judgment to resolve her $250 million lawsuit against Trump, two of his children, and his real estate company the Trump Organization. James accuses Trump of having filed fraudulent financial statements that inflated or undervalued the value of a number of assets to obtain benefits such as better bank loans and reduced tax bills between 2011 and 2021.
In court filings made public on Wednesday, James alleged that Trump inflated his net worth by as much as $2.2 billion in 2014 alone. Trump, who has answered questions under oath as part of the inquiry, has long denied any wrongdoing.
The civil trial as part of James' lawsuit is scheduled to begin on October 2. If James is successful in her suit, Trump would have to pay a fine of up to $250 million for allegedly trying to defraud financial institutions for a decade.
James is also seeking a ban on Trump and two of his children, Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump, from doing business in New York as part of her lawsuit. The former president's eldest daughter, Ivanka Trump, was dismissed from James' lawsuit in June due to statute of limitations for most of the allegations against her.
"Based on the undisputed evidence, no trial is required for the Court to determine that Defendants presented grossly and materially inflated asset values in the [annual statement of financial condition] SFCs and then used those SFCs repeatedly in business transactions to defraud banks and insurers," James wrote while asking New York Supreme Court Justice Arthur Engoron to decide the suit rather than letting it go to trial.
"Notwithstanding Defendants' horde of 13 experts, at the end of the day this is a documents case, and the documents leave no shred of doubt that Mr. Trump's SFCs do not even remotely reflect the 'estimated current value' of his assets as they would trade between well-informed market participants," James added.
"Instead, the undisputed evidence establishes that Defendants employed a variety of deceptive schemes to grossly inflated values for many of Mr. Trump's assets."
Trump's lawyers filed their own motion arguing that Judge Engoron should throw out the entire case. The attorneys cited the recent appellate court decision that resulted in Ivanka Trump being dismissed from the suit to suggest a legal time limit can also be applied to the claims against the former president.
"The appellate division has now limited the reach of the NY AG's crusade against President Trump and his family," Trump's lawyers wrote. The former president's legal team has been contacted for comment via email.
The fraud allegations put forward by James included claims that Trump's net worth between 2011 and 2021 was never more than $2.6 billion, but was listed at times as being as high as $6.1 billion. James said that Trump's actual net worth would likely be "considerably less if his properties were actually valued in full blown professional appraisals."
James alleged that Trump falsely valued his Mar-a-Lago home in Florida from 2011 to 2021 at $347 million to $739 million based on the premise that it was unrestricted property and could be developed for residential use. James said during this same period, the resort was assessed by Palm Beach County as having a market value based on its restricted use as a social club as ranging between $18 million to $27.6 million.
Trump also allegedly valued his triplex apartment at Trump Tower in New York based on claims it was nearly 30,000 square feet in size, when it was actually 10,996 square feet. This false statement allegedly inflated the apartment's value by around $100 to $200 million each year from 2012 to 2016.
"The cumulative effect of these numerous deceptive schemes to inflate Mr. Trump's assets, and hence his net worth, is staggering. Correcting for Defendants' deceptive practices results in reducing Mr. Trump's net worth by 17-39 percent per year, which translates to the enormous sum of $1 billion or more in all but one year," James wrote.
The October 2 date currently set for James' $250 million civil trial will take place before any of the criminal trials the former president is facing are due to begin.
Fulton County D.A. Fani Willis recently argued that Trump and the other 18 defendants in her Georgia election interference case could be tried together by October 23.
About the writer
Ewan Palmer is a Newsweek News Reporter based in London, U.K. His focus is reporting on US politics, and Florida ... Read more