Trump team asks NY attorney general to dismiss business fraud case
President-elect Trump has asked New York Attorney General Letitia James to (D) drop her multimillion-dollar civil fraud case against him, citing a need to “cure” partisan divisions following Trump’s election victory.
D. John Sauer, an appellate attorney whom Trump tapped for solicitor general, in Tuesday’s letter framed dropping the case as “necessary for the health of our Republic," invoking former President George Washington's Farewell Address and former President Abraham Lincoln's Thanksgiving Proclamation during the Civil War.
“In the aftermath of his historic election victory, President Trump has called for our Nation's partisan strife to end, and for the contending factions to join forces for the greater good of the country," he wrote. "This call for unity extends to the legal onslaught against him and his family that permeated the most recent election cycle."
A New York judge earlier this year found Trump and his business liable for fraud and having conspired to alter his net worth for tax and insurance benefits. He ordered the defendants to pay $464 million, plus tax, of which Trump primarily bears the brunt.
Today, the president-elect, Trump Organization and top executives, including his sons Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump, owe more than $496 million with interest, since that figure has continued to grow while he appeals.
The New York attorney general’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Sauer’s letter previews that if James does not agree to wipe the massive judgment and dismiss all claims, Trump’s team may argue that the case unconstitutionally interferes with his duties as president.
The attorney went on to note how special counsel Jack Smith dropped both of his criminal prosecutions against Trump following his White House win, and a judge is similarly weighing whether to dismiss the president-elect's hush money conviction in New York.
The fraud case is civil, but Sauer said it should fare no different.
“This case warrants the same treatment,” Sauer wrote in the letter, which was first reported by Fox News.
Sauer is one of Trump’s appellate attorneys and successfully argued his presidential immunity appeal before the Supreme Court.
After winning the election, Trump nominated Sauer to serve as the No. 4 Justice Department official who decides which cases the federal government appeals and represents the government before the high court.
“As counsel for President Trump in this appeal — and now as his nominee for Solicitor General of the United States — I have had the opportunity to ‘experience this partisan division personally, and I strongly believe that it is necessary for the health of our Republic for the strife and lawfare to end," Sauer wrote to James. "You now have the singular opportunity to help cure this division."
James, who sued Trump in 2022 and took him to trial last year, said in a speech after Trump’s election that her office is prepared to take on a second Trump administration. She did not mention the civil fraud case, but said she intended to “continue to stand tall in the face of injustice, revenge, retribution.”
Trump has personally attacked James as “incompetent” and has suggested she sought to keep him out of the White House.