NY AG James alleges Trump inflated net worth by billions

New York Attorney General Letitia James has alleged that former President Donald Trump inflated his net worth by roughly $2.2 billion as part of a suit against the Trump Organization for alleged fraud.

James has pursued a civil case against the organization, as well as Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump. It is slated for trial on Oct. 2.

Court filings from Wednesday allege that the former president inflated his net worth by $2.225 billion in 2014 alone, The Hill reported. James contends that the organization manipulated the value of its assets to minimize taxes and optimize insurance coverage. She is seeking $250 million in damages and to bar the former president and his sons from holding key leadership positions in New York companies.

"While this is just the tip of a much larger iceberg of deception Plaintiff is prepared to expose at trial — which would result in carving off billions more from Mr. Trump's net worth — it is more than sufficient to permit this Court to rule as a matter of law that each [statement of financial conditions] from 2011 to 2021 was false or misleading," James wrote.

Trump has contended that James is biased prosecutor, pursuing a baseless and politically motivated prosecution. He recently named her as one of the "fraud squad" in a recent ad deriding the myriad prosecutors pursuing charges against him or his interests.

His attorneys echoed that sentiment, insisting that James "has spent considerable time and taxpayer dollars chasing after President Trump by wading into wholly private, and successfully consummated, commercial agreements — the provisions of which have been fully satisfied — between highly sophisticated parties."

Trump further faces charges from Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg over a 2016 payment his then-personal attorney, Michael Cohen, made to Stormy Daniels. Trump has pleaded not guilty to all counts in that case. 

Bragg, for his part, also earned a slot on the "fraud squad," along with special counsel Jack Smith and Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis.

Ben Whedon is an editor and reporter for Just the News. Follow him on Twitter.