By New York Attorney General Letitia James asked a judge Tuesday to sanction Donald Trump, other defendants and their lawyers for rehashing the same failed legal arguments in James’ big civil fraud lawsuit against the former president.
James asked that all the defendants be fined $10,000 collectively, and that another fine of $10,000 be imposed on their lawyers collectively.
James’ request came four weeks before trial in the lawsuit is set to begin in New York State Supreme Court in Manhattan.
The attorney general in that suit is seeking $250 million in damages from Trump and the other defendants for what she alleges is widespread fraud related to a decade of financial statements. In addition to Trump, defendants in the case include his sons, Donald Jr. and Eric Trump, and various business entities.
In her filing Tuesday, James said that since last October, the defendants have made the same legal arguments against her lawsuit five separate times.
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James noted Judge Arthur Engoron has the discretion to “impose financial sanctions upon any party or attorney in a civil action or proceeding who engages in frivolous conduct.”
The filing said that conduct is frivolous if “it is completely without merit in law,” or if it is done “primarily to delay or prolong the resolution of litigation.”
The arguments the Trump defendants repeatedly have raised include claims that James does not have the legal standing to sue them under New York law.
James in her filing said Engoron and the appeals court rejected those arguments when they were made in separate filings in October, November and February. They were later resurrected in filings in August and again Friday.
Engoron, in slapping down the arguments for the second time in January, called them “borderline frivolous even the first time defendants made them.”
“Sophisticated defense counsel should have known better,” Engoron wrote.
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