New York
CNN
—
Former President Donald Trump has withdrawn a second lawsuit challenging the New York attorney general’s investigation of the Trump Organization, days after he dropped a case that sought to block him from obtaining a personal trust.
In a page-long document, attorneys for Trump and Attorney General Letitia James said they reached an agreement to dismiss the appeal with prejudice, meaning it cannot be reinstated in the future.
Last May, Trump appealed a federal judge’s ruling that allowed James to continue investigating the Trump Organization. The judge rejected his contention that James, a Democrat, was motivated by political animus and maliciously investigating him.
In September, James sued Trump, his three oldest children and the Trump Organization, accusing them of participating in a decade-long fraud that misled lenders, insurance companies and tax authorities for personal gain. James seeks $250 million.
The Trumps have denied any wrongdoing.
“For strategic purposes, this appeal was withdrawn voluntarily,” Trump’s lawyer Alina Haba said.
“I am delighted that Donald Trump has withdrawn his two pending actions against my office. As we have always shown, we have legitimate legal action against him and his organization and we cannot be bullied or dissuaded from pursuing ,” James said in a statement.
On Friday, Trump withdrew a lawsuit he filed in November to block the attorney general’s office from obtaining documents and records from a personal trust he created to hold his business interests after he became president.
Also last week, Judge Donald Middlebrooks, who oversees trust litigation, fined Trump and another group of attorneys $937,989 for his charges against Hillary Clinton, a former top Justice Department official and several others. The lawsuit accuses them of colluding against him during the 2016 election campaign.
“None of the allegations in the amended complaint raise an identifiable legal claim for political purposes,” the judge wrote.
The appeal, which was withdrawn on Tuesday, was to the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New York and was not related to Middlebrooks, who sits on the Southern District of Florida bench.
This story has been updated with more details.
