Donald Trump Could Face Civil Lawsuit, Not Criminal Charges From Atty. General Letitia James Amid Civil Fraud Investigation

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New York Attorney General Letitia James successfully convicted Donald Trump of 34 felonies in his campaign hush-money case in her "Black job." Scott Heins/Getty Images

Attorney General Letitia James wants to question Donald Trump regarding the civil fraud allegations against his organization.

According to reports, the New York City attorney general wants to subpoena Trump so that the ex-POTUS could sit in a deposition early next year. If approved, James will ask Trump whether his organization manipulated valuations of its real estate properties.

If Trump is found guilty of any wrongdoing, James could file a civil lawsuit against him. However, she won't be able to file criminal charges against the ex-president. After all, Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr. is the one in charge of conducting a criminal probe against Trump.

Trump Organization, executives face criminal probe

Throughout the past two years, investigators in the criminal probe have already charged Trump's company with fraud. They are now looking at the possibility that the Trump Organization misled banks and tax officials about the value of the company's assets, according to the Huffington Post.

Vance Jr's probe already resulted in the filing of charges against Chief Financial Officer Allen Weisselberg, as well as the Trump Payroll Corporation. An indictment against them revealed a years-long scheme to help Weisselberg and other executives avoid taxes on their salaries.

Donald Trump's lawyer slams Letitia James

But Trump's lawyer, Ronald Fischetti, slammed James' plans to subpoena his client by saying it's purely political as a witch hunt.

"We will wait until we see what they show us in their subpoena and we will respond with our motions. This is purely political and he has done nothing wrong and we are not surprised at all," Fischetti said via CNBC.

A spokesperson for the Trump Organization also released a statement criticizing James. They said that so many issues affect the state, but the attorney general wants to investigate Trump. The spokesperson also accused James of targeting Trump because of her plans to run for governor. However, James announced her decision to back out of her gubernatorial race on Thursday, according to CNN.

Letitia James withdraws from gubernatorial race

Instead, James will run for re-election as the attorney general of New York. In her statement, James said that she realized that there are a lot of ongoing investigations, and she wants to finish the job.

If James did not withdraw her gubernatorial candidacy, she would've gone head to head with New York Gov. Kathy Hochul, the state's first female governor. She would've also become the first Black and first female attorney general of New York.

Hochul took over as governor in August after former Gov. Andrew Cuomo resigned from his job amid allegations of sexual misconduct. These were detailed in a report from James' office.

However, Cuomo denied the allegations even though several women already came forward, according to NBC.

Months after the allegations first made headlines, Cuomo's younger brother, Chris Cuomo, was fired from his hosting job. A spokesperson for CNN said that Chris broke the rules and did not tell them exactly what his involvement was in covering up his brother's indiscretions.

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Donald Trump, Letitia James
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