CNN
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New York’s attorney general is seeking to expedite her civil suit against former President Donald Trump, his family members and the Trump Organization and delay a trial until the end of 2023.
In a court filing Thursday, Attorney General Letitia James said Trump tried to delay the ongoing fraud investigation.
“… this action is an ongoing scheme and a conspiracy to obtain millions through fraud, and the defendants have repeatedly sought to delay the (Attorney General’s Office) investigation.” This matter will proceed expeditiously,” the court said.
In a more than 200-page lawsuit filed earlier this month, James, a Democrat, said the fraud affected all of Trump’s business, including his properties and golf courses. According to the indictment, the Trump Organization defrauded lenders, insurers and tax authorities by inflating the value of its properties using misleading appraisals.
The $250 million civil suit was assigned to state Supreme Court Justice Arthur Engron, who will handle related legal matters, including subpoenas. The attorney general’s office argued that the case should stay before Engron because it had familiarized itself with thousands of pages related to the case.
“He has been overseeing the investigation that led to this enforcement action for over two years,” the AG’s office said. “While the legal issues before Justice Ingoron relate to the enforcement of the subpoena, the factual issues are almost entirely overlapping with the complaint in this action.”
Trump and his company’s attorney requested that the case be assigned to the commercial division of the court, stating that the case meets the jurisdictional requirements to be assigned there. Trump has dismissed the allegations as political rhetoric.
