New York AG Objects To Trump’s Florida LOLsuit Against Her On Grounds Of WTF Even Is This Sh*t?

(NICHOLAS KAMM/AFP/Getty Images)

A month ago, Donald Trump filed perhaps his most insane lawsuit — no mean feat for the OG vexatious litigant. The ink was barely dry on US District Judge Middlebrooks’s order dismissing the former president’s preposterous RICO LOLsuit against Hillary Clinton and James Comey for conspiring to ruin him with the Russia investigation, when Trump topped it with a complaint against New York Attorney General Letitia James.

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In her personal and official capacity.

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Filed in Florida state court.

Requesting an injunction to prevent her seeking an order from a New York state court.

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The theory of his case is that the New York AG is engaged in “a war of intimidation and harassment”; that she is being aided in this war by New York Supreme Court Justice Arthur Engoron, who has shown “extreme bias against [former!] President Trump”; and that the Florida court has jurisdiction to step in because the AG sought a court order in her civil action to force Trump to turn over documents pertaining to the revocable trust which holds all his assets. This would violate his right to privacy under Florida’s constitution, he claims, and so the Florida court has jurisdiction to intervene and tell the New York court to knock it off.

AG James promptly removed the case to federal court, where it landed on Judge Middlebrooks’s docket. LOL.

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Last night, she filed her opposition to Trump’s request for a preliminary injunction on grounds of WTF? And BRO, DO YOU EVEN LAW? And SERIOUSLY, ARE YOU HIGH RIGHT NOW?

Describing the former president as “a disgruntled litigant” engaged in an “attempted end-run around the jurisdiction of the New York state court,” the AG notes that there are “at least four independent grounds for dismissing this action.”

First, the Court has no personal jurisdiction over AG James because the actions of the Office of the Attorney General (“OAG”) in pursuing the New York state court proceedings (which form the predicate for the claims in this action) do not meet the requirements for the exercise of personal jurisdiction under Florida law, and additionally do not establish the necessary minimum contacts with Florida to satisfy the Due Process Clause. Second, because Mr. Trump’s requested relief is against OAG and not AG James individually, the action is barred by New York’s interstate sovereign immunity, which is independent of Eleventh Amendment immunity and remains preserved notwithstanding removal of the action to this Court. Third, the issues and claims asserted in the Amended Complaint are precluded by final orders issued in the New York state court proceedings and an action Mr. Trump filed against AG James in the Northern District of New York to enjoin OAG’s state court proceedings; Mr. Trump had a full and fair opportunity to litigate in both New York forums all of the issues and claims asserted here. And fourth, the Court should decline to exercise jurisdiction under the Rooker-Feldman doctrine because Mr. Trump improperly seeks here to collaterally attack orders issued by the New York state court where he was the losing party.

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Well, when you put it like that, it does seem like the odds of success on the merits are low.

The motion goes on to note that Trump failed to allege irreparable harm, aside from speculating that James will immediately release the document publicly, and argues that there is substantial public interest in prosecuting companies and executives who engage in persistent fraudulent conduct.

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“Mr. Trump being investigated and sued for fraud and OAG receiving trust documents in discovery is not ‘injury,’” much less one that can be redressed under Florida law.

Let’s go out on a limb and guess that Judge Middlebrooks is going to be sympathetic to the New York AG’s position, relying as it does on actual law and not inchoate ranting about “Extraordinary wrongdoing requir[ing] extraordinary relief,” padded with generalized assurances that the New York court is countenancing conduct which is “contrary to both the laws of New York and Florida.”

And as long as we’re taking wildass guesses, there’s a Rule 11 notice hot on the printer if it hasn’t already gone out.

Trump v. James [Docket via Court Listener]

Liz Dye lives in Baltimore where she writes about law and politics.

Topics

Arthur Engoron, Donald Trump, Government, Letitia James