President-elect Donald Trump demanded that his $454 million civil fraud case be nullified after he was elected president, but the New York attorney general has rejected him.
Tristan Snell, former prosecutor for the New York attorney general's office, posted the update Tuesday evening on Bluesky, citing the refusal to stand down.
Attorney General Letitia James made it clear her office would continue to pursue the case, noting that civil litigation "does not in any way affect Trump's ability to serve as president."
Clinton v. Jones, the 1997 case against former President Bill Clinton, set the legal precedent for the matter, with Justice Clarence Thomas co-signing the 9-0 decision, saying a sitting president could be sued in civil court.
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"Under anything resembling a fair application of Clinton v. Jones, Donald Trump will lose any attempt to say that he’s immune from civil liability in the New York AG case. And this must be our reply to his attempts to state otherwise, implicitly or explicitly," wrote Snell.
At the same time, the president doesn't enjoy any immunity for civil cases involving non-official conduct.
"This is the one Trump case that is DEFINITELY alive," wrote Snell.
"Your letter presents no basis for this Office to seek to vacate the final judgment or to dismiss this action," the letter to Trump's lawyer, John Sauer, said.
"Contrary to your suggestion, the pendency of defendants' appeal during Mr. Trump's term as President fully comports with the U.S. Constitution. The final judgment concerns only business conduct undertaken by entities that are part of the Trump Organization and individual defendants who were acting on behalf of the Trump Organization," the letter continued.
