Former President Donald Trump has filed a lawsuit in Florida state court seeking to block the New York attorney general from obtaining records from the trust that owns the Trump Organization.
The civil suit was filed hours after a New York judge denied an attempt to move New York Attorney General Letitia James’ $250 million lawsuit against Trump, his older children and others to another division of New York State court.
“Consequent to her efforts to steal, destroy, or control all of Trump’s belongings, James has engaged in obtaining a copy of President Trump’s revocable trust,” the lawsuit allegedly states. Trump claimed that the trust is protected by privacy rights in the Florida Constitution and that James is trying to interfere with his ability to own and control the trust.
Trump is seeking an injunction to prevent James from receiving information about the trust and to find that James has no jurisdiction over the assets “and no authority to supersede or control the powers of the trustee of such trust.”
“If James’ past conduct is any indication James will also publicly disclose the information once he receives it,” the suit alleged.
Trump and James are due in New York court on Thursday for the first hearing since the fraud suit was filed against the Trumps and their business.
James is asking a New York judge to impose a monitor, conditions on the release of his financial statements to lenders and require court approval before Trump assets are transferred.
Trump previously tried to block the James investigation by taking action in New York federal court, but a judge denied the effort. His lawyers appealed.
“Multiple judges have rejected Donald Trump’s baseless attempts to evade justice, and no amount of lawsuits will deter us from pursuing this fraud,” a James spokesman said.
“I sued Donald Trump for committing extensive financial fraud. That fact has not changed, and neither has our determination to ensure that no matter how powerful or political anyone is, no one is above the law.”
