President Donald Trump’s legal team is refusing to back down against New York Attorney General Letitia James, relentlessly pushing back on her politically-motivated civil suit that has unjustly targeted him and his businesses.

In a recent letter filed with the New York Supreme Court, Trump’s representation has zeroed in on James’s apparent failure to comply with a court order. This order specifically mandated her office to disclose "the preservation practices" and "its preservation efforts" regarding evidence in the case.

This crucial demand is the latest offensive by Trump’s attorneys, who contend the entire case, currently under reconsideration, is riddled with fundamental errors and potentially hidden information. Specifically, Trump’s legal counsel suspects James’s office may be withholding key evidence: communications involving Michael Cohen, a former attorney for President Trump.

The urgency of this demand stems from a January 2026 article by Cohen, published on Substack. In it, Cohen asserted that, during meetings with lawyers from James’s office, he had "felt pressured and coerced to only provide information and testimony that would satisfy the government’s desire to build the cases against and secure a judgement and convictions against President Trump." This stunning admission raises serious questions about the impartiality of James’s investigation.

Cohen notably served as a key witness for the prosecution in the original civil suit. During the trial, he testified that President Trump had provided him with specific net-worth targets, helping the state to build its narrative that Trump had routinely misrepresented the value of his properties.

Although the presiding judge initially denied a request for additional discovery, he did compel James’s office to provide details on its process for maintaining and preserving information related to the case. Trump’s attorneys assert that James has blatantly failed to comply with this direct order.

Court filings from Trump’s team state that James’s office "also carefully avoids representing one way or the other whether any requested materials in fact exist, and, if they do, whether NYAG has confirmed that they are being preserved." The attorneys pointedly added, "Instead of actually complying with the Order, NYAG has simply recited in general terms that her ‘standard litigation hold procedures’ have been in place since the investigation phase of this matter." This vague response, they argue, is entirely insufficient and obstructs the pursuit of truth.

This ongoing legal skirmish is the latest development in the politically charged civil suit James launched against President Trump in 2022, accusing him of habitually inflating property values to a "fraudulent" extent.

After an initial ruling, President Trump was ordered to pay a staggering $355 million plus interest and faced bans from seeking loans from New York financial institutions and serving as an officer or director of any New York company. While an appeals court later vacated the monetary penalties, James has brazenly appealed to have them reinstated, further illustrating her relentless pursuit. President Trump, for his part, has consistently maintained the entire case is fundamentally flawed and should be dismissed outright.

Earlier this month, President Trump’s legal team meticulously outlined five disqualifying weaknesses in James’s case, exposing its foundational flaws:

• First, they argue Attorney General James utterly lacked the authority to bring such a case, noting it involves private commercial transactions, not harm to the public interest. The idea that a state AG can intervene in private business deals without a clear public grievance is a disturbing overreach.
• Second, Trump’s attorneys contend that his property valuations were subjective estimates, independently evaluated and accepted by lenders, not fraudulent misrepresentations. This is common sense in real estate, where values are often dynamic and open to interpretation.

As his appeal states, "The only supposed ‘victims’ here are a handful of ultrasophisticated banks and insurers that have never claimed to be injured, were eager to do business with President Trump and his family, and made over $100 million from these transactions." A truly incredible claim of "victimhood" from parties who profited handsomely.

• Third, they challenge the prosecution’s ludicrous premise that real estate has only one objective value, and any deviation implies fraud. "Under that breathtakingly broad theory, NYAG can second-guess any business transaction in this State on almost any imagined grounds," his attorneys warned, highlighting the dangerous precedent this sets for all New York businesses.
• Fourth, Trump’s representation argues the initial $450 million disgorgement penalty was not only excessive and unlawful but an unconstitutional seizure of private property.
• Finally, and perhaps most tellingly, the appeal asserts that the overtly politically charged nature of the case, a clear weaponization of the legal system, should have been enough to halt its consideration from the very beginning. The filing notes, "NYAG cannot point to a single Section 63(12) enforcement action against similarly situated developers (or any other type of defendant) based on practices comparable to those alleged here." The double standard is impossible to ignore.

In response to inquiries regarding its disclosures, James’s office merely offered a letter claiming it had met its requirements.

"Insofar as Defendants have sought or are seeking more information about OAG’s specific preservation efforts, OAG objects to the demand for this extrajudicial discovery," the letter blandly states, further adding, "Moreover, OAG has completely satisfied its obligations under the Court’s Order for OAG to identify the preservation practices that existed and applied and continue to exist and apply." Such boilerplate language does little to inspire confidence or transparency.

This entire saga reveals a disturbing pattern of weaponized justice in New York, where political opponents are pursued with unprecedented zeal, while real crimes often go unaddressed. President Trump’s legal team is bravely fighting not just for his rights, but for the fundamental principle of fair play and equal justice under the law – principles increasingly under siege by those who prioritize political vendettas over the integrity of our legal system. Americans deserve accountability, not politically motivated show trials.