Former President Donald Trump has adopted a fresh tactic in his ongoing feud with New York Attorney General Letitia James, aiming to erase his record and humiliate her through the broad civil fraud case she brought and won.
Trump blames James for bringing charges in the 2022 business fraud action, alleging she inflated his wealth to secure more favorable loan and insurance terms. The matter was heard as a bench trial before New York Supreme Court Justice Arthur Engoron.
Following a 2024 ruling that found Trump liable, Engoron ordered a substantial penalty of $355 million, which quickly grew to more than $500 million as Trump, then a candidate, appealed the verdict and the penalty.
In a major setback for James, the New York Court of Appeals dismissed the hefty fine in August 2025, seven months into Trump’s second term as president, ruling the penalty an “excessive fine” while allowing Engoron’s overall findings to stand.
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Yet the large financial penalty was only one component of Engoron’s sanctions.
He also barred the real estate magnate from leading a business in New York for three years or taking out any loans in the state, and his sons, Don Jr. and Eric Trump, were likewise ordered to pay a $4 million fine and barred from running a business in the state for two years.
When the appeals court struck down the gigantic fine, it also left open a path for Trump to challenge the other penalties in Engoron’s ruling.
Now, Trump is seeking to overturn James’ entire case.
On April 8, in a 119-page brief to the New York Court of Appeals, Trump argued that James brought the case against him over “political hostility” and that she did not have the authority to pursue the charges in the first place, Courthouse News Service reported.
He also accused James of “uneven enforcement” of the state’s business laws and targeting him as he was launching his 2024 reelection bid.
“The reason here was pure politics, as Attorney General James’s own statements make clear,” Trump contended in the filing while also citing past statements by James promising to “bring down President Trump and his real estate empire.”
Trump had attempted to use that defense at the trial as well.
Social media erupted in a frenzy of anger and disbelief.
“That’s not how it works,” wrote X user Danny C.
This irate commenter added, “Of course he did —cking con man.”
Another quipped, “Lock him up,” a jab at Trump during his first bid for the presidency, recalling how he energized crowds at campaign rallies by suggesting his Democratic rival Hillary Clinton should be jailed for maintaining a private server at home containing classified documents during her tenure as secretary of state.
Trump has repeatedly sent his Department of Justice after James, initially attempting to charge her with mortgage fraud in a case that was dismissed, then pursuing other charges that two separate grand juries have declined to indict her on.
In the 2022 fraud case, James had accused an embarrassed Trump of “massive fraud to falsely inflate his net worth and unjustly enrich himself, his family, and his organization.”
Trump’s lawyers labeled the case a “political witch hunt” and a “political hit job.” Yet Trump vowed to retaliate against his enemies once elected. The Trump DOJ indicted James in October 2025 on mortgage fraud charges, alleging she misrepresented a Virginia property to obtain a lower loan rate.
A federal judge dismissed the indictment, ruling the Trump-appointed prosecutor was unlawfully installed. Two subsequent grand juries declined to indict her again. In March 2026, the administration attempted anew, submitting fresh insurance-fraud referrals to the DOJ offices in Florida and Illinois. James remains in office and has denied all wrongdoing.
