负责监管纽约司法部长利蒂夏·詹姆斯2.5亿美元的法官民事诉讼周四公布的新法庭文件显示，前总统特朗普正在考虑是否制裁他的律师。
法官阿瑟·恩戈伦(Arthur Engoron)在给律师的一封电子邮件中表示，他“正在考虑对琐碎的诉讼实施制裁”，反对特朗普驳回诉讼的动议。
特朗普的律师Alina Habba、Christopher Kise和Clifford Robert认为，诉讼应该被驳回，因为司法部长缺乏起诉资格或能力。他们还呼应了特朗普的“政治迫害”路线，辩称“纽约时报一直在对特朗普的所有事情进行这场讨伐。”
恩戈伦说，这些都是“本法院先前驳回的相同的法律论据”。
“被告基于同样的事实和同样的法律提出同样的论点，”Engoron的电子邮件称。辩护律师在一封信中回应说，他们采取了适当的行动来促进他们客户的利益。
“过去没有，现在也没有无视或不尊重法院或其裁决的意图，但辩护的基本原则和既定法律要求提出和保留论点，即使当事方和(或)法院之间有不同意见。这是对抗程序的核心，决不能反映任何不尊重法庭或阻碍诉讼程序的努力，”辩护信中说。
在给法官的信中，总检察长办公室没有就Engoron是否应该实施制裁表明立场，但高级律师Kevin Wallace指出,“这种重复辩论的形式似乎是为了拖延诉讼程序，不必要地转移当事人和法院的资源。"
在对特朗普的商业行为进行了为期三年的调查后，詹姆斯于9月提起诉讼。它提到了特朗普、他的三个长子、他的公司及其两名高管，并指控他们欺诈性地调整特朗普房地产投资组合的价值，以获得更好的贷款和税收条款。特朗普完全否认的诉讼称，被告夸大了特朗普的净资产，以获得比应得条件更好的贷款条款。
Judge considers sanctioning Trump's lawyers in ongoing New York $250M civil lawsuit
The judge overseeing New York Attorney General Letitia James' $250 million civil lawsuit against former President Trump is pondering whether to sanction his attorneys, new court filings revealed Thursday.
Judge Arthur Engoron, in an email to the attorneys, said he "is considering imposing sanctions for frivolous litigation" over Trump's motion to dismiss the lawsuit.
Trump's attorneys, Alina Habba, Christopher Kise and Clifford Robert, argued the lawsuit should be dismissed because the attorney general lacks standing or capacity to sue. They also echoed Trump's "witch hunt" line by arguing "the NYAG has pursued this crusade against all things Trump."
Those are "the same legal arguments that this Court previously rejected," Engoron said.
"[D]efendants are making the same arguments based on the same facts and the same law," Engoron's email said. The defense attorneys responded in a letter that said they acted properly to advance their client's interests.
"There was and is no intention to disregard or disrespect the Court or its rulings, but fundamental principles of advocacy and established law require presentation and preservation of arguments even where there is, respectfully, disagreement between the parties and/or the Court. This is the core of the adversarial process and in no way reflects any effort to disrespect the Court or impede the course of these proceedings," the defense letter said.
In its own letter to the judge, the attorney general's office did not take a position on whether Engoron should impose sanctions but senior counsel Kevin Wallace noted "the form of the rehashed arguments here appears calculated to delay the proceedings and needlessly divert the parties' and court's resources."
James filed her lawsuit in September after a three-year investigation into Trump's business practices. It names Trump, his three eldest children, his company and its two executives, and accuses them of fraudulently adjusting the value of the Trump real estate portfolio to obtain better terms on loans and taxes. The lawsuit, which Trump wholly denies, alleged that the defendants inflated Trump's net worth to obtain better lending terms than deserved.
