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The AG, Letitia James, said in a press conference in New York City just before noontime on Wednesday, Sept. 21 that Trump "repeatedly and persistently" misstated the value of assets.
"The complaint demonstrates Donald Trump inflated his net worth by billions of dollars," said James, who also named Donald Trump Jr., Ivanka Trump, and Eric Trump in the suit.
The 222-page complaint details 23 examples of inflating assets, James said.
"We found that Trump, his family, and the Trump Org used fraudulent and misleading asset valuations over 200 times in 10 years on his annual financial statements.
"These statements were then used to obtain hundreds of millions of dollars in loans and insurance coverage."
James said she's seeking to ban the Trumps from ever running a business in the state again.
"There aren't two sets of laws for people in this nation," James said. "Former presidents must be held to the same standards as everyday Americans.
"When the well-connected and powerful break the law to get more money than they are entitled to, it reduces resources available to working people, small businesses, and taxpayers."
James ended the announcement of the lawsuit with a not-so-subtle reference to Trump's 1987 memoir, "The Art of the Deal."
“This investigation revealed that Donald Trump engaged in years of illegal conduct to inflate his net worth, to deceive banks and the people of the great state of New York," James said. "Claiming money you do not have is not the 'Art of the Deal,' it's the 'Art of the Steal.' "
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