New York Attorney General said she is "prepared" to ask the judge to seize former President Donald Trump's assets if he cannot pay the $354 million judgment handed down in his civil fraud case. (ABC News/Screenshot | Brendan McDermid-Pool/Getty Images)
The lawsuits come as Democratic elected officials fume over the second Trump administration’s policies, most notably the creation of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), which is investigating various federal agencies in the search of cutting government spending fat, corruption and mismanagement of funds.
"Right now, we're going to keep focus on the need to look out for everyday New Yorkers and everyday Americans who are under assault by an extreme MAGA Republican agenda that is trying to cut taxes for billionaires, donors and wealthy corporations and then stick New Yorkers and working-class Americans across the country with the bill," House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries said in January.
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"That's not acceptable," he said. "We are going to fight it legislatively. We are going to fight it in the courts. We're going to fight it in the streets."
New York Attorney General Letitia James launched her run for New York attorney general during the 2018 cycle, while emphasizing that if she were elected she would aggressively pursue legal charges against President Donald Trump. (Jemal Countess/Getty Images for Congressional Black Caucus Foundation)
James brought forth a civil fraud suit against Trump, the Trump Organization and its senior leadership in 2022, frequently sitting in the courtroom throughout the proceedings, and celebrated the prosecution of Trump in the Manhattan criminal trial over the 34 counts of falsifying business records. Trump was ordered to pay a $454 million civil fraud judgment in James’ lawsuit against him, which is currently on appeal.
All in, James said back in November 2024 that her office took nearly 100 legal actions against Trump’s first administration — vowing to restart the efforts during the second administration.
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"We did not expect this result, but we are prepared to respond to this result. And my office has been preparing for several months because we've been here before," James said following Trump’s election win in November 2024. "We faced this challenge before, and we used the rule of law to fight back. And we are prepared to fight back once again because, as the attorney general of this great state, it is my job to protect and defend the rights of New Yorkers and the rule of law. And I will not shrink from that responsibility."
So far in 2025, James has spearheaded at least five legal actions against the Trump administration, including leading a coalition of state attorneys general to sue the federal government to halt DOGE’s access to the Treasury Department’s internal systems, as well as another lawsuit related to the Trump admin slashing grant funding to research institutions and universities.
"As the richest man in the world, Elon Musk is not used to being told ‘no,’ but in our country, no one is above the law," James said of the DOGE suit. "President Trump does not have the power to give away Americans’ private information to anyone he chooses, and he cannot cut federal payments approved by Congress. Musk and DOGE have no authority to access Americans’ private information and some of our country’s most sensitive data. I am taking action to keep our information secure, and to prevent any unconstitutional freeze on essential funding that Americans rely on every day."
Trump slammed New York as the "most corrupt State in the Union" in a Truth Social post on Tuesday, calling on even-handed judges and elected officials to crush the "lawfare" in the Empire State.
"We need great Judges and Politicians to help fix New York, and to stop the kind of Lawfare that was launched against me, from falsely valuing Mar-a-Lago at $18 Million Dollars, when it is worth, perhaps, 100 times that amount (The corrupt judge was replaced by another judge, only to be immediately put back on the case when the Democrat political leaders found out that a change of judges was made. It has become a great embarrassment for the New York Judicial System!)," he posted to Truth Social, referring to James’ civil fraud case against Trump.
President Donald Trump repeatedly seethed that "lawfare" was running amok of American politics, including, left to right, former Special Counsel Jack Smith, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg and Fulton County, Georgia, District Attorney Fani Willis. (Getty Images)
Ahead of taking office, Trump repeatedly seethed that "lawfare" was running amok of American politics, frequently targeting James, Merchan, as well as former special counsel Jack Smith, Fulton County, Georgia, District Attorney Fani Willis and Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg and others.
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"They're playing with the courts, as you know, they've been playing with the courts for four years," Trump said during a press conference at Mar-a-Lago after Congress had certified his election win in January. "Probably got me more votes because I got the highest number of votes ever gotten by a Republican by far, actually, by a lot. And, you know, we had a great election, so I guess it didn't work. But even to this day, they're playing with the courts and their friendly judges that like to try and make everybody happy... It's called lawfare. It's called weaponization of justice."
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/playing-courts-trump-admin-hit-dozens-suits-after-years-president-condemning-lawfare