Trump Fights to Retain Control of Company With New Suit

Former President Donald Trump filed a lawsuit Wednesday accusing New York Attorney General Letitia James of breaking the law while waging a "war of intimidation and harassment" against him. James, who's up for reelection, sued Trump, his children, and the Trump Organization for $250 million in September, alleging they inflated and deflated the value of assets by billions for financial gain. But the "crooked and highly partisan James now thinks it is the business of the State of New York to go after my revocable trust and pry into my private estate plan, only to look for ways to recklessly injure me, my family, my businesses, and my tens of millions of supporters," Trump says in a statement, per the Hill.

As part of her lawsuit, James is seeking to appoint an independent watchdog to review financial information provided to lenders and insurers through the revocable trust Trump uses to manage his assets. She's accused the Trump Organization of trying to avoid punishment in New York by establishing a new company in Delaware. But in the lawsuit filed in Florida's Palm Beach County, Trump requests an injunction to block James from obtaining information about the Donald J. Trump Revocable Trust, including the plan for his assets upon death, per ABC News. Last week, he filed a similar suit in New York, claiming "this politically motivated attempt to nationalize a highly successful private enterprise is precluded under our Constitution," per CNBC.

In the latest suit, Trump's lawyers allege "a plot to obtain control of a global private enterprise ultimately owned by a Florida revocable trust in which President Trump is the settlor," adding James has "no authority to supplant or control the powers of the trustee of such a trust" and that her gaining control would represent a violation of privacy and property rights, per CNN and the New York Post. The suit also suggests James would "publicly disclose the information once obtained." A rep for James notes Trump's previous "baseless attempts" to block the attorney general's suit were rejected by "multiple judges" and "no number of lawsuits will deter us from pursuing this fraud." A New York judge will hear oral arguments in the case on Thursday. (More Trump Organization stories.)