A hearing for summary judgment is scheduled for September 22 in the civil suit brought against Donald Trump and the Trump Organization by New York Attorney General Letitia James, the New York Times reported.
In a court filing last Wednesday, Attorney General James asked Judge Arthur Engoron to grant a summary judgment on one of the seven claims in her suit that Trump and his company defrauded banks, insurers, and others by lying about the value of its assets and Trump’s wealth.
Andrew Amer, the special litigation counsel in the attorney general’s office, argued in his 100-page motion that the judge only needs to answer two questions to rule on the fraud claim, namely, were the annual financial statements false or misleading, and did Trump and his company use those false or misleading financial statements to conduct business transactions, according to the Associated Press.
Amer argued that given the “mountain of undisputed evidence,” the answer to both is “a resounding ‘yes’.”
According to the filing, over the course of a decade, Trump falsely inflated his net worth by anywhere from $812 million to $2.2 billion each year.
Meanwhile, Trump’s legal team has asked the judge to dismiss all seven charges, arguing that many of the allegations in the civil suit are past the statute of limitations. They also argued that the attorney general lacks standing in the case since the entities Trump allegedly defrauded “have never complained” and even profited from doing business with Trump.
Citing an appellate court decision, Trump’s lawyers said the reach of the attorney general’s “crusade against President Trump and his family” is now limited.
If Judge Engoron rules for the Attorney General’s request for a summary judgment on the fraud claim, he will still preside over the October trial on the six remaining claims in the civil suit, unless the case is settled out of court.
At the same time, if Trump receives even a partial summary judgment on his motion to dismiss, the scope of the case will be significantly reduced, lowering the stakes when the case goes to trial next month, the New York Times reported.
