Manhattan Judge Denies Trump’s Attorneys Bid To Dismiss Lawsuit Accusing Him, His Family Of Fraud

On Friday, New York state judge Arthur Engoron denied motions from former President Donald Trump, and three of his children -- Donald Trump Jr., Eric Trump and Ivanka Trump -- to dismiss a $250 million lawsuit.

According to Reuters, the judge said that Trump must face the lawsuit by New York Attorney General Letitia James. It accuses him of fraudulently overvaluing his own net worth and his namesake real estate company's assets. Earlier, Engoron had turned down many of Trumps’ legal arguments when he imposed a monitor on the Trump Organization in 2022.

On Friday, in a written order, the judge ruled that the Trumps’ repetition of the arguments was “frivolous.” He criticized Trump's legal team throughout his nine-page decision, reported ABC News. He even quoted baseball star Yogi Berra by writing that the bulk of their arguments, including Trump’s repeated claim that the lawsuit was part of a politically motivated “witch hunt,” were “deja vu all over again.”

The judge had considered imposing sanctions on the lawyers, but he decided against it, according to CNN. Engoron wrote that "sophisticated defense counsel should have known better." In its discretion the court will "not impose sanctions, which the court believes are unnecessary, having made its point.”

He also rejected Trumps’ lawyers' arguments that some of the alleged fraudulent conduct happened beyond the statute of limitations that was allowed under the law.

Ivanka, who left the family business to work at the White House in 2017, argued that the claims against her were time-barred. She said that she didn’t personally falsify any business records.

James initially filed the lawsuit in September 2022. She had alleged that the Trumps have used fraudulent financial statements to get favorable rates of insurance, loans and tax benefits. But the Trumps have repeatedly said that the investigation is politically motivated. Since then Trump, who has denied any wrongdoing, has tried to block James’ probe through several legal channels.

Last month, a federal judge in Florida rejected his request to block James’ office from getting hands on records from the Donald J. Trump Revocable Trust. It was used to hold Trump's companies when he became the President in 2017. Trump filed the civil lawsuit in November. It was just hours after a New York judge rejected his effort to move James’ lawsuit into another division of New York state court.