Letitia James Targets 2 Dozen Filing Cabinets In Trump Tower

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Amid her civil investigation of former President Donald Trump’s business practices, New York state Attorney General Letitia James (D) is going after two dozen filing cabinets at Trump Tower in New York City. As a recent report from Business Insider puts it, sources and filings in court reveal that “investigators’ sights are set on two dozen beige, metal file cabinets in the former president’s Trump Tower headquarters on Fifth Avenue in Manhattan. The cabinets line a back wall of the skyscraper’s 26th floor, where Trump has his executive offices.” A source for Business Insider said that the files in the disputed cabinets “go back decades,” potentially offering a critical tool for the Attorney General’s office in determining what legal demands that the ex-president’s business may have violated.

Apparently, the file cabinets contain personal files of Trump. Ron Fischetti, who is representing Trump in proceedings related to James’s investigation, contested the notion of the top prosecutor’s need for the documents. He claimed that “everything she’s ever asked for by subpoena she has, except where she’s asked for some things that are so broad it’s just impossible, like every valuation you’ve had on every property for 30 years,” adding: “Trump’s business has been probed by the Manhattan DA and by the AG for three years, and by federal prosecutors for three years before that… And they’re still looking for documents?” James countered that idea in a court filing last month, writing that the “Trump Organization has not made anything approaching a complete production of documents for Mr. Trump.”

Apparently, James received information about the filing cabinets at Trump Tower from Alan Garten, a lawyer for the Trump Organization. That January filing from James states that Garten informed investigators that “there were file cabinets at the Trump organization containing Mr. Trump’s files,” explaining (per the filing’s re-telling of Garten’s testimony) that “Mr. Trump had assistants who maintained files on his behalf, that he received and maintained hard copy documents, and that he used Post-it Notes to communicate with employees.” Apparently, just three of Trump’s “own letters” have been turned over to investigators, as Business Insider summarizes James’s revelations. There’s a (virtual) court hearing scheduled for this week dealing with the push for documents and James’s efforts to secure testimony from the ex-president and two of his adult children, Donald Jr. and Ivanka.

Eric Trump already previewed arguments that the Trumps’ side would apparently make during that hearing. As he angrily put it, “On Thursday, our team will be in front of a New York Judge outlining the blatantly unethical behavior of [Letitia James] the NY Attorney General,” adding: “There are 81 pages of videos, tweets & fundraising solicitations (some as recent as two weeks ago) in our lawsuit for the judge to see.” The Trumps’ side has alleged that James is essentially pursuing her investigation out of political bias against the former president; the “81 pages” that Eric referenced would presumably be meant to support this claim. James’s office stated in a recent court filing that “snippets of press releases, tweets, and public appearances” showing comments targeting Trump don’t “support a plausible inference that the investigation lacks any objective, reasonable basis” — meaning instances of James expressing opposition to Trump don’t automatically mean there’s nothing to this probe.