Trump sues New York attorney general to stop her from investigating his businesses

By Dan Mangan and Kevin Breuninger -

Former President Donald Trump filed a federal lawsuit on Monday with the aim of preventing New York State Attorney General Letitia James from continuing to investigate his businesses.

The lawsuit comes almost two weeks after it was learned that James intends to question Trump under oath on January 7 in a statement in the framework of his investigations.

The state attorney is conducting a civil investigation into the Trump Organization targeting cases in which the former

company

to obtain favorable loans and insurance rates, while reducing his tax liabilities.

New York Attorney General Letitia James during a ceremony on December 14, 2021 in New York Seth Wenig / AP

The Manhattan district attorney's office, Cyrus Vance Jr., is leading a parallel criminal investigation against the former president.

Trump, a Republican, affirms that both Vance and James, both Democrats, are investigating him for political reasons,

.

The lawsuit filed in the United States District Court for the Northern District of New York, which The New York Times was the first to report, alleges that the investigation violates Trump's constitutional rights.

[Trump made "deliberate efforts" to undermine the response to COVID-19 while in the White House, according to report]

It also notes that "James's mission is guided solely by political animosity and the

whom he considers a political opponent."

The lawsuit describes Trump, his family and their businesses as victims of a "bitter crusade" by James, which has "relentlessly bombarded" them with "unjustified" subpoenas.

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A 30-page portion of the lawsuit is devoted to James' tweets and his past criticism of the Trump Administration.

"Letitia James attacks President Trump with callous disregard for the ethical and moral obligations that he vowed to fulfill when he became Attorney General," Trump's attorney, Alina Habba, said in a statement.

"She has short-changed the state by starting

and has forever tarnished the sanctity of her office," he added.

[Fox News anchors and even Trump's son were alarmed by the role of the former president during the assault on the Capitol]

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"By filing this lawsuit, we intend not only to hold her responsible for her flagrant constitutional violations, but to

to punish her political opponent," he stressed.

"An attempted collateral attack"

A spokesperson for James did not immediately respond to questions from CNBC.

James later said in a statement that Trump's lawsuit is "an attempted collateral attack" on his investigation and vowed to go ahead with it because

.

"To be clear, neither Mr. Trump nor the Trump Organization can dictate whether and where they will answer for their actions. Our investigation will continue undeterred because no one is above the law, not even someone by the name of Trump," he stressed. it's a statement.