New York Attorney General Letitia James is asking the state Supreme Court to sanction former President Donald Trump, his sons Eric and Don Jr., others involved in the family business and Trump’s lawyers for a total amount of $20,000.
Lawsuits filed Tuesday show that James’ office wants to penalize them for continuing to present “previously rejected arguments” in their motions. The attorney general called them “frivolous and criminal” because “sophisticated defense lawyers should have known better.”
The attorney general’s office said in the filing that there are five cases where arguments previously rejected by the court have been reused by Trump attorneys or where Trump attorneys have advanced arguments based on a lack of legal or factual basis.
This relates to James’s ongoing lawsuit alleging there have been persistent attempts by Trump, his two eldest sons and others to routinely present false financial information to lenders, insurance companies and others on behalf of the former president’s businesses and his own personal benefit.
Despite efforts by Trump and his lawyers to have the case dropped and the proceedings postponed, a civil suit trial will begin on October 2.
The court document filed on Tuesday states that in November 2022, the defendants filed requests to dismiss the case and that the court rejected their arguments for a second time. James’ office said that in dismissing the arguments again, the court said they were “on the border of frivolous even the first time defendants first made them,” noting that reading the letter from the defendants’ was, to quote the baseball saga Lawrence Peter (“Yogi”). ) Berra, ‘Deja vu all over again.'”
James’ office states that the court has the discretion to impose financial penalties on any party or attorney in a civil suit or proceeding that engages in “frivolous conduct.”
NBC News has reached out to Trump’s lawyers for comment.
James first filed the case against Trump in September 2022, alleging that the former president and his older sons engaged in attempts to inflate Trump’s personal wealth in order to attract favorable loan deals. James claims there have been over 200 cases of fraud in a ten year period.
The attorney general is seeking a fine of about $250 million and wants to permanently ban the Trump family from serving as officers of New York companies and prevent Trump from making commercial real estate deals in the state for five years.
In addition, Trump faces criminal charges in four separate cases: one in New York by the Manhattan District Attorney, two brought by the Justice Department, and one case in Fulton County, Georgia.
This article was originally published on NBCNews.com
