As Twitchy reported, Washington Post columnist Jennifer Rubin went on a Twitter bender earlier Wednesday when news broke that New York State Attorney General Letitia James was filing a lawsuit against Donald Trump for “engaging in years of financial fraud.” Of note: It’s not a criminal lawsuit, but a civil lawsuit. As long as James has been investigating Trump, she doesn’t have the goods on him to file a criminal lawsuit.
Lawyer and Townhall columnist Kurt Schlichter has laid out in a short thread just how the lawsuit is going to go. In short, Rubin might want to calm down.
Anyone interested in how the Trump civil lawsuit will go? Should I forgo billing for a moment to explain it to you?
— Kurt Schlichter (@KurtSchlichter) September 21, 2022
Here's how the NY AG civil lawsuit will go….
1/
— Kurt Schlichter (@KurtSchlichter) September 21, 2022
Once Trump is served, he takes a few weeks to respond. He probably cannot remove the case since there are NY defendants, so no diversity. Now we're in mid-October. He moves to dismiss.
2/
— Kurt Schlichter (@KurtSchlichter) September 21, 2022
I have only skimmed this dog's breakfast of a complaint, but what popped out at me for the parts I looked are were the lack of damages allegations, much less ones against NY, the plaintiff. You cannot sue if you did not suffer a loss. None are pleaded in the parts I looked at.
3/— Kurt Schlichter (@KurtSchlichter) September 21, 2022
Other causes of action may have damages allegations – we'll see. But there are plenty of other grounds to move to dismiss that just leap off the page.
4/
— Kurt Schlichter (@KurtSchlichter) September 21, 2022
Let's get real – if they thought they had Trump they would have filed a criminal case, but they have to prove that beyond a reasonable doubt. A civil suit is a preponderance of the evidence. They had no criminal case. They chose civil "fraud" to impress dumb people.
5/
— Kurt Schlichter (@KurtSchlichter) September 21, 2022
So, the initial motion to dismiss will not be heard before the midterm – the real mission was accomplished by filing suit in time to influence the election, but not so early that this garbage case could be tossed out before the election.
6/
— Kurt Schlichter (@KurtSchlichter) September 21, 2022
I expect the case will be dropped or tossed after a couple motion to dismiss rounds. Maybe there will be a small, piddling settlement the AG will claim is a victory. It's not a real lawsuit. It's lawfare. And I hope red AGs are taking note of the new rules.
7/
— Kurt Schlichter (@KurtSchlichter) September 21, 2022
Rubin, who’s never right about anything, tweeted that “the suit points a dagger at the entire Trump operation, putting at risk the thing he holds most dear: his wealth” — although James’ suit seeks $250 million in civil penalties. As Schlichter says, there might be “small, piddling settlement” that’s hardly going to break Trump.
***
Related:
Jennifer Rubin just a tad excited about a New York AG’s lawsuit against the Trumps (buzzkills incoming!) https://t.co/AQqg2BOlaF
— Twitchy Team (@TwitchyTeam) September 21, 2022
Join the conversation as a VIP Member