Trump Administration Subpoena Letitia James As $500 Million Civil Fraud Case Still Ongoing
New York Attorney General Letitia James attends now-President Donald Trump's civil business fraud trial at the New York Supreme Court on Oct. 24, 2023. Associated Press
The Justice Department issued a subpoena to James' office for documents related to the civil fraud case, multiple outlets reported Friday, which The New York Times reports is part of an investigation into whether the case violated Trump's civil rights.
James sued Trump, the Trump Organization and his business associates for fraud based on allegations that the president and his associates repeatedly misstated the value of their assets on financial statements for personal gain, with Judge Arthur Engoron agreeing with James and holding Trump and his co-defendants liable for fraud.
Trump has long denied the allegations in the case and insisted there was no wrongdoing in how assets were calculated, and has repeatedly attacked James, claiming she brought the lawsuit because she's politically biased against him and describing her as a 'crook.'
The civil fraud case is still ongoing, as a state appeals court heard Trump's appeal in the case last September and has not yet issued a ruling over whether or not Engoron's ruling should stand.
Engoron ordered Trump to pay $454.2 million in the case, an amount that keeps going up as the case drags out, as approximately $111,984 in interest is added each day—now ballooning the total amount Trump owes to approximately $513 million.
James has strongly opposed the Trump administration's reported investigation into her, with her personal attorney Abbe Lowell saying in a statement Friday, 'Investigating the fraud case Attorney General James won against President Trump and his businesses has to be the most blatant and desperate example of this administration carrying out the president's political retribution campaign.'
How the Trump administration's investigation into James will play out. There is no indication of any wrongdoing by James in her litigation against Trump, though it's unclear what conclusions the Trump DOJ's investigation will reach and how long the probe could take to play out. The Justice Department also reportedly issued a separate subpoena into documents regarding a lawsuit James' office successfully brought against the National Rifle Association, and the Justice Department has reportedly separately been investigating James' personal real estate transactions. Will Trump Have To Pay In The Civil Fraud Case?
It still remains to be seen how the appeals court will rule on Trump's appeal of the civil fraud case. The five-judge panel appeared somewhat sympathetic to the president when they heard arguments last year and suggested they could be inclined to lower the eye-popping sum he's been ordered to pay, which one judge referred to as 'troubling.' It's unclear when the court's ruling will come out. Interest on the amount Trump has to pay will keep accruing until the appeals process is fully over, and he will only have to pay if the courts still find him liable for fraud after the case has been fully appealed. He has already posted a $175 million bond in the case, after successfully persuading a court to lower the amount he immediately had to pay.
Forbes estimates Trump's net worth at $5.1 billion as of Friday afternoon. The president's cash pile has significantly increased since the civil fraud ruling first came out, making him fully capable of paying the nine-figure civil fraud fine. Trump now has approximately $770 million in liquid assets, up from approximately $413 million after Engoron's fraud ruling, with the bump largely thanks to the president's cryptocurrency holdings. Key Background
James sued Trump and his company in 2022 for alleged fraud, claiming the president and his allies repeatedly inflated the size and value of assets in order to obtain more favorable business deals. The allegations included false valuations for such Trump properties as Mar-a-Lago and Trump Tower, where the Trump Organization exaggerated the size of Trump's penthouse even after Forbes reported the square footage the company had been using was false. Engoron first found Trump and his allies liable for fraud even before the case went to trial, and then ruled in February 2024, after the trial had concluded, that the fraud was committed knowingly, finding there was 'overwhelming evidence' suggesting Trump and his allies knew the numbers they were using were false. Trump himself 'was aware of many of the key facts underpinning various material fraudulent misstatements,' Engoron wrote. James is one of a number of prosecutors that Trump attacked as legal cases piled up against him between his two presidential terms, and the president has long suggested he wants to get revenge on his enemies while in the White House. In addition to the New York attorney general, the Trump administration has also opened an investigation into Jack Smith, the former special counsel who led the federal government's two criminal cases against Trump. Further Reading Forbes Appeals Court Questions Trump's 'Troubling' $450 Million Fine In Civil Fraud Case By Alison Durkee Forbes Trump Already Owes $24 Million More In Fraud Case As It's Heard On Appeal By Alison Durkee Forbes Trump Ordered To Pay Over $350 Million In Civil Fraud Case As Judge Finds Ex-President Knowingly Committed Fraud By Alison Durkee
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