Constitutional expert and Georgetown University law professor Jonathan Turley blasted the civil fraud case brought against Donald Trump by New York Attorney General Letitia James after the former president testified on his own behalf Monday, where he often became animated and frustrated.
In an interview with Fox News, Turley said the case is unprecedented in that he couldn’t find a similar one filed against anyone else.
“I could find no case anywhere like this. Part of the problem is the underlying law, which doesn’t require any victim,” Turley began. “It doesn’t require anyone to lose money. The banks were not complaining. They apparently made money. But that doesn’t matter. And you have the A.G., [Letitia] James, who ran on being a political activist. She ran on saying that she would bag Trump for anything.”
Continuing, Turley said: “This is the same attorney general that sought to dissolve the National Rifle Association. That was one of her other big efforts. Now, she’s trying to ban Trump from doing business in New York. And a lot of New Yorkers love it. This crosses the line from law to entertainment. It should be concerning for people because it does appear that this is a case uniquely created for Trump under a law that hasn’t been used in this same way against others.”
Noting that there is no jury in the case and it will be decided by Judge Arthur Engoron, who has already ruled that Trump defrauded investors, host Martha MacCallum said, “So the judge that is overseeing this case and is going to make the decision just asked the former president to not state his case essentially.” She also noted that James ran for office on a pledge to ‘get’ Trump.
“Yeah, it’s very disturbing when James was running for office. I wrote a column saying where are the New York attorneys who are saying hey, this is not our bar, this is not what we stand for? You don’t run for office on a trophy defendant. You don’t run for office promising a thrill kill. That’s what was happening here. She’s really fulfilled the worst expectations for some of us,” Turley said.
“This is not the only case that is really tinged by politics. A lot of people wouldn’t object if the Attorney General was seeking some fine because there were inflated numbers,” he continued. “You know, inflated numbers in the real estate business in New York are a ubiquitous problem. And if you want to fine him, fine. But she’s going for total annihilation.
“She is asking to take this iconic figure and effectively ban him from business in New York, and the question is why? The answer is because that’s what she promised to do. To seek his utter destruction if she can,” he added.
