Illustration by Elizabeth Brockway/The Daily Beast
The Manhattan District Attorney’s super-secret criminal case against former President Donald Trump is largely a mirror image of the bank fraud lawsuit against him already filed publicly by the New York Attorney General, according to a tell-all book written by a frustrated prosecutor who quit the DA’s team.
That explanation casts doubt on the DA’s recent claims that the book, which is due to hit bookshelves on Tuesday, can severely damage the revived investigation. But it also explains what has boggled some Americans for months: why AG Letitia James’ lawsuit reads like a criminal indictment.
The AG’s lawsuit—which accuses the Trumps of faking business records to dupe banks and dodge taxes—wants to kill the Trump Organization and seize what could be up to $1 billion of its assets. Her 222-page lawsuit details rampant criminal fraud, but her authority as New York State’s top prosecutor only allows her to seek a civil remedy.