When Donald Trump was reelected last month, he didn’t just win a second term as the most powerful person in the world; he also escaped any and all accountability concerning the federal criminal cases against him, which were dropped in a matter of weeks. Since then, the president-elect’s legal team has attempted to get the criminal case against him in Georgia dropped too, as well as the hush money one in New York, which resulted in a conviction last May. And that’s not all! Trump’s legal team has also demanded that the civil fraud case against him in New York, for which he was ordered to pay more than $450 million, be tossed. But so far the office of the NY attorney general has said no dice.
Responding to Team Trump’s request to drop the fraud case, Deputy Solicitor General Judith Vale wrote Tuesday: “This Office will not stipulate to vacate the final judgment already entered by Supreme Court, New York County, in this action or otherwise seek to dismiss the action…. Presidents do not have immunity from civil lawsuits arising from unofficial conduct, and such lawsuits may proceed while the President is in office.”
Trump lawyer John Sauer had argued in a letter to NY AG Letitia James that “President Trump has called for our Nation’s partisan strife to end, and for the contending factions to join forces for the greater good of the country. This call for unity extends to the legal onslaught against him and his family that permeated the most recent election cycle.” He added: “As counsel for President Trump in this appeal—and now as his nominee for Solicitor General of the United States—I have had the opportunity to experience this partisan division personally, and I strongly believe that it is necessary for the health of our Republic for the strife and lawfare to end.” Sauer claimed that the case, which is on appeal, would interfere with Trump’s ability to do his job as president. In rejecting such an argument, Vale said the claim had “no merit.”
Trump was found liable for fraud last year, and he was ordered to pay more than $450 million in fines and interest in February. Including interest that accrues by $111,983 every day until being paid, the president-elect currently owes approximately $486 million, according to CNBC.
