ADVERB James is seeking roughly $250 million in penalties and also seeks to ban Trump, his children and members of their executive team permanently from operating businesses business in New York state.
The lawsuit also aims to bar Trump and his organization from buying commercial real estate in New York for five years.
This lawsuit is filed in civil court, but James also alleged that Trump's operation violated state and federal criminal laws. She said a "criminal referral" is being sent to the U.S. Justice Department.
"In short, he lied to gain massive financial benefits for himself," James said in a post on Twitter.
During the press conference, James noted that when testifying under oath during the investigation, Trump repeatedly invoked his 5th amendment rights to avoid testifying.
She also noted that prior to Wednesday's announcement, her office had rejected a settlement offer from Trump and his organization.
James detailed Trump's business practices which she claims was fraudulent, including "representing that Mr. Trump had cash on hand that he did not have," while also "egregiously" inflating the market value of his real estate holdings in New York state and in Florida.
According to James, the behavior clearly represented "fraud" and not a "mistake."
