Former President Trump called out New York Attorney General Letitia James in a video on Truth Social, claiming the Democrat was depriving him of his rights.
“This case should never have been brought and should never have been allowed,” Trump said in the video. “I have no rights.”
Trump has complained he’s not eligible for a jury in the case and has said a gag order barring him from smearing court staff is unfair.
Judge Arthur Engoron has already ruled Trump liable for fraud in the case. His company is accused of engaging in decades of fraud by inflating and deflating the value of its assets to pay less in taxes and receive better insurance coverage.
James brought the civil case last fall, suing the former president, his adult sons Eric Trump and Donald Trump Jr., along with former Trump Organization executives Allen Weisselberg and Jeffrey McConney and related business entities.
The trial began in New York on Oct. 2. Trump has voluntarily shown up in court several times and alleged the trial is a form of election interference.
“This trial is an election interference witch hunt and everybody knows it,” Trump said in the video. “All of the banks that I dealt with were very happy with us. They thought I was a great customer.”
In the video, Trump repeated the claim that James is “incompetent” and “a racist,” and he said the state of New York should “intercede and stop this total travesty of justice.”
Engoron’s decision effectively strips Trump of some of his business licenses and has the potential to take away some of his properties, such as Trump Tower in New York and Mar-a-Lago in Florida.
Trump is involved in more than a half-dozen civil lawsuits, relating to alleged financial crimes and defamation regarding sexual assault. He currently faces 91 felony charges in four criminal cases for alleged hush money cover-up, defamation and his efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election.