Letitia James Wields New Weapon in Demand to Ban Trump for Life From New York Deals

The state attorney general provided a judge with a new legal precedent related to the case of former pharmaceutical executive Martin Shkreli

Former President Donald Trump and New York Attorney General Letitia James in file images. Brandon Bell; David Dee Delgado/Getty Images

Wielding a newfound legal precedent that could bolster her case against former President Donald Trump, New York Attorney General Letitia James on Tuesday renewed her call for the former president to be banned for life from doing business in New York.

In a letter to New York Supreme Court Justice Arthur Engoron, who is presiding over President Trump’s civil fraud trial and is expected to issue a ruling by the end of January, Ms. James’ assistant, Colleen Faherty, provided a “notice of supplemental authority” meant to encourage the judge to ban President Trump from ever doing business in New York.

A notice of supplemental authority is a document filed by a party in a legal case—in this instance provided by Ms. James’ office in context of the case against President Trump—to draw the court’s attention to new legal authorities that have arisen that may impact the case.

“In its appellate review, the Second Circuit unanimously affirmed in full the district court’s order enjoining Martin Shkreli from participation in the pharmaceutical industry for life and ordering him to disgorge $64.6 million,” Ms. Faherty wrote in the letter, referring to a verdict in an unrelated case against Mr. Shkreli, which stems from an antitrust lawsuit over his efforts to thwart competition when he hiked the price of a drug overnight by over 4,000 percent some years ago.

Ms. Faherty wrote that the court’s decision to impose a lifetime ban on Mr. Shkreli should serve as “case law support” for the punishment Ms. James wants Justice Engoron to apply to the former president.

Ms. James, a Democrat, has requested a broad range of penalties against President Trump, including a $370 million disgorgement and a permanent ban on his doing business in New York state and with any New York-based financial institution.

President Trump has called the case a “political witch hunt.”

With her assistant’s letter to Justice Engoron, Ms. James is now arguing that the decision in the Shkreli case supports her call to impose the Trump business ban.

The Trial

The trial, which began on Oct. 2, 2023, and concluded on Jan. 11, 2024, centers on allegations that the former president and his company, The Trump Organization, defrauded banks, insurers, and others by allegedly overvaluing his assets and exaggerating his net worth in documents used in deals and to secure loans.

The case was brought by Ms. James, who initially wanted to fine the former president $250 million but later increased this to $370 million.

Justice Engoron has already issued a summary judgment, finding President Trump and his company liable for fraud. The trial was to decide the remaining claims of conspiracy, insurance fraud, and falsifying business records.

A judgment is expected at the end of January, with defense attorneys expected to appeal any ruling by Justice Engoron, pointing to the fact that he imposed a summary judgment even before the defense had laid out its arguments during trial.

Much of the trial centered on financial documents and expert testimony, including from a Deutsche Bank executive who bolstered President Trump’s defense by saying it’s not unusual for there to be differences between a client and the bank about a client’s asset values when they apply for a loan.

Deutsche Bank is the lender that provided hundreds of millions of dollars in loans to President Trump for properties in Miami, Chicago, and Washington.

Justice Arthur Engoron presides over the civil fraud trial of former President Donald Trump at New York State Supreme Court, in New York City, on Oct. 18, 2023. Jeenah Moon/Pool/Getty Images

Ms. James has argued that the former president inflated the value of his assets by as much as $2.2 billion to get better loan terms from the bank.

But Deutsche Bank managing director David Williams said differences between a client and the bank about a client’s asset values aren’t a disqualifying factor when considering granting loans because “it’s just a difference of opinion.”

President Trump and his sons said in testimony during the trial that no bank was victimized by the stated asset valuations and that lenders—including Deutsche Bank—made considerable amounts of money in interest by extending the loans.

‘Perfect’ Financial Statements

In a courtroom speech during closing arguments on Jan. 11, President Trump insisted that the financial statements he provided to banks were “perfect” and the financial institutions “got all their money back.”

“The banks are happy as can be,” he said.

President Trump’s attorneys argued that Ms. James was using a consumer fraud statute in an unprecedented way in a bid to confiscate the former president’s property.

“The attorney general wants you to turn standard loan transactions into fraud,” defense attorney Chris Kise told the judge. “It’s just a substitution of the attorney general’s political judgment for that of sophisticated financial professionals conducting risk analysis.”

Even before the trial started, Justice Engoron had also ordered the immediate cancellation of President Trump’s business certificates at the dissolution of his LLCs before the trial, but the order was paused by an appeals court for at least the duration of the trial after the defense argued it would upend hundreds of Trump Organization employees’ livelihoods overnight.

The former president has denied any wrongdoing and has claimed that the case is a politically motivated plot to undermine his 2024 White House run. He is the front-runner by far for the Republican presidential nomination.

President Trump has also said that if he loses the case, it will have a deeply chilling effect on businesses in New York City and could even prompt some to pack up and leave.

Catherine Yang contributed to this report.