Donald Trump's lawyer has asked New York Attorney General Letitia James to drop her civil fraud case against the president-elect, following the example of special counsel Jack Smith, who dropped both of his criminal cases after Trump won the 2024 presidential election.
A New York judge ordered Trump to pay a $454 million civil fraud judgment after James sued him for falsely inflating the value of his property.
Trump had done so to obtain favorable bank loans, the court heard.
John Sauer made the request in a letter to James on Tuesday.
Newsweek sought email comment on Wednesday from Sauer and James' office.
On Monday, Smith filed a motion to drop four felony counts against Trump for allegedly attempting to overturn the 2020 presidential election and his alleged role in the January 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol. Trump had pleaded not guilty to all charges in that case.
Tanya Chutkan, a federal judge in Washington, D.C., granted Smith's motion to dismiss the case hours after he filed it.
In his written request, Smith has pointed out that it was Justice Department policy not to prosecute sitting presidents, a fact noted by Chutkan in her decision.
In his letter, Sauer wrote, "Democratic officials and prosecutors are abandoning their discredited lawsuits against Donald Trump. For example, just yesterday the special counsel's office moved to voluntarily dismiss its criminal case against President Trump in the U.S District Court for the District of Columbia. The district court granted that motion and dismissed that case the same day."
"The special counsel's office also moved to voluntarily dismiss its criminal case against President Trump that is on appeal in the U.S Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit."
The latter is a reference to Trump's classified documents case in Florida.
On Monday, Smith dropped an appeal to Judge Aileen Cannon's dismissal of the case.
Trump was facing 40 federal charges over his handling of sensitive materials retrieved from his Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Florida, after leaving the White House in January 2021. He was accused of obstructing efforts by federal authorities to return them. Trump had pleaded not guilty to all charges.
Trump has nominated Sauer as his solicitor general, a position that oversees the government's Supreme Court cases.
The solicitor general often appears before the Supreme Court to present the government's position and it is one of the highest legal positions in the country.
James is unlikely to treat Sauer's request favorably.
As soon as the presidential election result was confirmed, James held a defiant press conference in which she said that her office has been preparing for a Trump presidency.
"My office has been preparing for a potential second Trump administration, and I am ready to do everything in my power to ensure our state and nation do not go backwards."
"During his first term, we stood up for the rule of law and defended against abuses of power and federal efforts to harm New Yorkers. Together with Governor Kathy Hochul, our partners in state and local government, and my colleague attorneys general from throughout the nation, we will work each and every day to defend Americans, no matter what this new administration throws at us. We are ready to fight back again," James said.
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