New York Attorney General Letitia James says Trump committed crimes, asks federal prosecutors and IRS to investigate

New York Attorney General Letitia James said Wednesday her bureau believes it has uncovered national crimes by erstwhile President Donald Trump and others, including slope fraud and lying to fiscal institutions.

James said her bureau has sent a transgression referral to national prosecutors successful Manhattan and the IRS.

The revelation of imaginable national crimes by the erstwhile president came arsenic James announced a civilian suit accusing Trump, 3 of his big children and immoderate of his longtime concern associates of submitting years of fraudulent fiscal statements successful bid to execute assorted fiscal benefits.

"We judge the behaviour alleged successful this enactment besides violates national transgression law," James said, "including issuing mendacious statements to fiscal institutions and slope fraud."

"We are referring those transgression violations that we person uncovered to the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, and the Internal Revenue Service," James said astatine a property conference.

The 220-page civilian lawsuit, filed earlier Wednesday successful Manhattan Supreme Court, seeks astatine slightest $250 cardinal successful damages. It seeks to permanently barroom Trump, Donald Trump Jr., Eric Trump and Ivanka Trump from serving arsenic an serviceman of a institution successful New York, and permanently prohibit the Trump companies named successful the suit from doing concern successful the state.

The defendants "repeatedly and persistently manipulated the worth of assets to induce banks to lend wealth to the Trump Organization connected much favorable terms" than would person different been available, James said Wednesday morning. They did this "to wage little taxes," as good arsenic fulfill indebtedness agreements and get security companies to hold to much beneficial terms, James said.

The 7 causes of enactment listed successful the ailment — persistent and repeated fraud, falsifying concern records, conspiracy to falsify concern records, issuing mendacious fiscal statements, conspiracy to falsify mendacious fiscal statements, security fraud, and conspiracy to perpetrate security fraud — each autumn nether the New York penal code.

"We are alert of the New York Attorney General's referral, and beyond that diminution to remark further," a spokesperson for the Manhattan national prosecutors' bureau told NBC News.

Alina Habba, an lawyer for Trump, successful a connection Wednesday accused James of filing the civilian suit to beforehand her "political agenda."

"It is abundantly wide that the Attorney General's Office has exceeded its statutory authorization by prying into transactions wherever perfectly nary wrongdoing has taken place," Habba said.

"We are assured that our judicial strategy volition not basal for this unchecked maltreatment of authority, and we look guardant to defending our lawsuit against each and each 1 of the Attorney General's meritless claims," she said.