Trump withdraws another lawsuit against NY Attorney General Letitia James
By Kara Scannell, CNN
Former President Donald Trump has withdrawn a second lawsuit challenging the New York attorney general’s investigation into the Trump Organization, days after dropping a case attempting to block access to his personal trust.
In a one-page filing, lawyers for Trump and Attorney General Letitia James said they reached an agreement to dismiss the appeal with prejudice, meaning it could not be revived in the future.
Trump had appealed a federal judge’s ruling last May that allowed James’ investigation into the Trump Organization to proceed. The judge dismissed his argument that James, a Democrat, was driven by political animus and investigating him in bad faith.
In September, James sued Trump, his three eldest children and the Trump Organization alleging they were involved in a decade long fraud that misled lenders, insurers, and tax authorities to enrich themselves. James is seeking $250 million.
The Trumps have denied any wrongdoing.
“This appeal was voluntarily withdrawn for strategic purposes,” said Trump’s attorney, Alina Habba.
“I am pleased that Donald Trump has withdrawn both of his pending actions against my office. As we have shown all along, we have a legitimate legal case against him and his organization, and we cannot be bullied or dissuaded from pursuing it,” James said in a statement.
On Friday, Trump withdrew a lawsuit he filed in November seeking to stop the attorney general’s office from obtaining documents and records from the personal trust he set up to hold his business interests after he became president.
Also last week, Judge Donald Middlebrooks — who was overseeing the trust lawsuit — sanctioned Trump and a different set of attorneys $937,989 for a lawsuit Trump brought against Hillary Clinton, former top Justice Department officials and several others alleging they conspired against him in the 2016 campaign.
“No reasonable lawyer would have filed it. Intended for a political purpose, none of the counts of the amended complaint stated a cognizable legal claim,” the judge wrote.
The appeal withdrawn Tuesday was made to the 2nd US Circuit Court of Appeals in New York and is not related to Middlebrooks, who is on the bench in the Southern District of Florida.
This story has been updated with additional details.
The-CNN-Wire
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