In a move to stop a civil fraud investigation into his company, former U.S. President Donald
Trump on Monday sued New York Attorney General Letitia James.
The lawsuit comes after it was reported that James' office would seek to question Trump
under oath as it probes whether the Trump Organization manipulated the valuations of
its real estate properties.
Trump and the company claim that James has violated their rights under the U.S. Constitution
by pursuing – what they call - a politically motivated investigation.
The civil probe is related to, but separate from, a more-than-three-year-old criminal
probe investigation by Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance of the Trump Organization's
business practices, which James joined in May.
As part of that probe - the company and longtime Chief Financial Officer Allen Weisselberg
pleaded not guilty to criminal charges earlier this year in what a prosecutor in Vance's
office called a "sweeping and audacious" 15-year tax fraud.
In Monday's lawsuit, Trump and the company claim that the NY Attorney General, who is
a Democrat, is motivated by partisan bias against Trump, saying she is on a bitter crusade.
In a statement, James fired back….
writing "Our investigation will continue undeterred because no one is above the law, not even
someone with the name Trump."