Categories for Lawsuit
27,229. 8/6/2019
CALIFORNIA/GOP/LAWSUITS/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “President Donald Trump and the Republican National Committee — along with the California Republican Party — filed a pair of lawsuits Tuesday [8-6-19] in an attempt to block a new law signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom that requires Trump to release his taxes to qualify for the March 2020 primary ballot…The pair of lawsuits by Trump and the GOP challenging Newsom escalate a battle between the president and Democratic officials in California, who have filed more than 40 lawsuits challenging his administration’s policies on issues ranging from climate change to health care. Dhillon, a member of the RNC and the past vice chair of the California Republican Party, said the state GOP lawsuit is based on the belief that ‘the Constitution sets forth the qualifications for all federal offices … and in term limits cases, states have no right to impose additional qualifications.’”
–Carla Marinucci and Jeremy B. White, “New GOP lawsuits challenge Newsom on Trump tax bill,” Politico, August 6, 2019 4:40 pm
27,217. 8/6/2019
CALIFORNIA/LAWSUIT/LEGISLATION/TRUMP TAXES: “President Trump and the Republican National Committee filed a pair of lawsuits on Tuesday [8-6-19] against officials in California challenging a new law requiring presidential candidates to release five years of tax returns in order to be placed on the state primary ballot in 2020. The R.N.C. suit, which was filed in the Eastern District of California and included the California Republican Party and several California Republican voters as plaintiffs, called the law a ‘naked political attack against the sitting president of the United States.’ It was filed against Gov. Gavin Newsom and the California secretary of state. Mr. Trump and his campaign filed a second suit challenging the constitutionality of the new law, and it named the California secretary of state and the state attorney general. In that suit, they argue that states do not have the power to ‘supplement’ the qualifications for the president, set forth by the Constitution.”
–Annie Karni, “Trump Campaign Sues Over California’s Requirement to Release Tax Returns,” The New York Times online, August 6, 2019
27,036. 7/30/2019
2016 ELECTION/HILLARY CLINTON/LAWSUIT/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “A federal judge in Manhattan on Monday [7-29-19] dismissed a lawsuit by the Democratic National Committee that had accused President Trump’s 2016 campaign, WikiLeaks and Russia of illegally conspiring to damage Hillary Clinton’s presidential run. The Russian government was clearly ‘the primary wrongdoer’ for hacking into Democratic computers and funneling purloined documents to WikiLeaks to disseminate, found Judge John G. Koeltl of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York. But as a foreign sovereign, he wrote, Russia was immune from any liability. Judge Koeltl ruled that the First Amendment protected the actions of WikiLeaks in publishing the documents. The same protections covered Trump campaign officials, who did not release any stolen documents but were eager to benefit from their publication, he found.”
–Sharon LaFraniere, “Democrats’ Lawsuit Alleging Trump-Russia Conspiracy Is Dismissed,” The New York Times online, July 30, 2019
26,924. 7/25/2019
DEMS/LAWSUIT/NEW YORK/TRUMP TAXES: “A federal judge decided Thursday [7-25-19] that a different judge should handle President Donald Trump’s suit to prevent House Democrats from obtaining his New York state tax returns, delaying a decision on the president’s request for a restraining order against the Democrats. Judge Trevor McFadden, a Trump appointee, rejected a bid by Trump lawyer William Consovoy to have McFadden hear both that case and a separate lawsuit by Ways and Means Chairman Richard Neal seeking the president’s federal returns. At a hearing Thursday, Consovoy argued the cases are so similar that McFadden ought to handle both. But McFadden disagreed, noting one involved federal tax law and the other state law. What’s more, McFadden said, Democrats are plaintiffs in one case and defendants in the other, and that could have ramifications for their legal strategies in the cases…While the New York case will be reassigned to another judge, McFadden will still handle Neal’s lawsuit for Trump’s federal filings. Lawyers for Neal said they did not have an opinion on whether McFadden ought to take both cases.”
–Brian Faler, “Trump’s suit to block Democrats from getting his New York tax returns will be handed off to another judge,” Politico, July 25, 2019 6:15 pm
26,843. 7/23/2019
DEMS/LAWSUIT/NEW YORK/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT/TRUMP TAXES: “President Trump sued New York State officials and the House Ways and Means Committee on Tuesday [7-23-19] to try to block congressional Democrats from using a recently enacted New York law to obtain his state tax returns. The lawsuit, filed by the president’s private lawyers in federal court in Washington, opens a new front in Mr. Trump’s fight to keep his tax returns secret. His administration has already rejected subpoenas from the Ways and Means Committee for his federal tax information, prompting the House to file a lawsuit of its own in recent weeks seeking enforcement. Now Mr. Trump is moving to close a side door opened by Democratic lawmakers in his home state by asking a judge to declare that the Ways and Means Committee ‘lacks a legitimate legislative purpose’ to request his state tax returns. The suit also seeks to nullify the New York law outright before Congress decides whether to use it.”
–Nicholas Fandos and Jesse McKinley, “Trump Sues New York and Congress to Shield His State Tax Returns,” The New York Times online, July 23, 2019
26,554. 7/13/2019
FBI/JUSTICE DEPARTMENT/LAWSUIT/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “RT @JudicialWatch: JW announced that it filed a FOIA lawsuit against the DOJ for records of communications between the FBI & former FBI Dep…”
–Donald Trump, Twitter.com, July 13, 2019 7:11 am
26,421. 7/10/2019
COURTS/LAWSUIT/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT/TRUMP BUSINESS: “A federal appeals court panel has unanimously thrown out a lawsuit accusing President Donald Trump of violating the Constitution by continuing to do business with foreign and state governments while serving as president. The 4th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the State of Maryland and the District of Columbia — who joined together to file the suit against Trump in 2017 — lacked legal standing to object to his alleged violations of the Constitution’s clauses prohibiting receipt of so-called ‘emoluments’ while in office. Writing for the court, Judge Paul Niemeyer concluded that the case turned on unduly speculative claims that the Washington, D.C. and Maryland governments were being harmed by people favoring Trump’s D.C. hotel in order to curry favor with him. ‘The District and Maryland’s theory of proprietary harm hinges on the conclusion that government customers are patronizing the Hotel because the Hotel distributes profits or dividends to the President, rather than due to any of the Hotel’s other characteristics,’ Niemeyer wrote.”
–Josh Gerstein, “Appeals court tosses emoluments suit against Trump,” Politico, July 10, 2019 1:24 pm
26,240. 7/3/2019
DEMS/HOUSE OF REPS/LAWSUIT/TRUMP TAXES: “House Democrats’ legal bid for President Donald Trump’s tax returns has been assigned to a district court judge appointed by Trump. Trevor McFadden is slated to hear a suit filed Tuesday [7-3-19] by lawmakers demanding the administration turn over six years of the president’s tax filings. McFadden has previously ruled for the administration in another high-profile fight with Democrats, when he decided that lawmakers did not have the legal standing to sue to prevent Trump from reassigning money appropriated by Congress to build a wall along the border with Mexico. The administration is likely to pursue a similar argument in the tax-return case, experts predict, by contending that the court should not get involved in the long-running battle between Congress and the administration. Trump has defied a decades-old tradition of presidents voluntarily releasing their tax returns. Ways and Means Chairman Richard Neal (D-Mass.) is seeking Trump’s filings under a 1924 law allowing the heads of Congress’s tax committees to examine anyone’s private tax information.”
–Brian Faler, “Democrats’ suit for Trump’s tax returns assigned to Trump-appointed judge,” Politico, July 3, 2019 12:18 pm
26,220. 7/2/2019
HOUSE OF REPS/IRS/LAWSUIT/TREASURY/TRUMP TAXES: “The House sued the Treasury Department and the Internal Revenue Service on Tuesday [7-2-19], demanding access to President Trump’s tax returns and escalating a fight with an administration that has repeatedly dismissed as illegitimate its attempt to obtain the financial records. The lawsuit moves the dispute into the federal courts after months of sniping between the Democratic-led House Ways and Means Committee, which requested and then subpoenaed the returns, and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin. The case may ultimately go to the Supreme Court, and its outcome is likely to determine whether financial information that Mr. Trump has kept closely guarded in spite of longstanding presidential tradition will be viewed by Congress and, ultimately, the public. In Tuesday’s filing, the House argued that the administration’s defiance of its request amounted to ‘an extraordinary attack on the authority of Congress to obtain information needed to conduct oversight of Treasury, the I.R.S. and the tax laws on behalf of the American people.’ It asked a judge to order the defendants to comply.”
–Nicholas Fandos and Charlie Savage, “House Files Lawsuit Seeking Disclosure of Trump Tax Returns,” The New York Times online, July 2, 2019
26,207. 7/2/2019
DEMS/HOUSE OF REPS/LAWSUIT/TRUMP TAXES: “House Democrats on Tuesday [7-2-19] sued for President Trump’s tax returns, marking the beginning of a high-stakes legal fight over his efforts to keep his taxes secret. Ways and Means Chairman Richard Neal (D-Mass.) filed suit in federal court to enforce a subpoena for the records rejected in May by the administration…Democrats are seeking six years’ worth of Trump’s returns under a 1924 law allowing the leaders of Congress’ tax committees to examine anyone’s confidential tax information. Democrats hope the documents will answer a host of questions about Trump’s finances. Trump has defied a decades-old tradition of presidents voluntarily releasing their returns, and his administration is fighting the effort to force his hand, arguing Democrats do not have a legitimate reason for seeking the information. It is just one of a number of subpoenas the administration is battling, in a larger war over congressional oversight.”
–Brian Faler, “House Democrats sue for Trump’s tax returns,” Politico, July 2, 2019 1:52 pm
26,204. 7/2/2019
DEMS/LAWSUIT/NEW YORK/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “For two consecutive days, President Trump turned his Twitter fury against two of the highest elected officials in his home state: Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo and the attorney general, Letitia James, both Democrats. It was not immediately clear what prompted Mr. Trump to lash out; his tweets on Monday [7-1-19] focused on his treatment by Ms. James’s office. Without mentioning Ms. James by name, the president said she was ‘harassing all of my New York businesses in search of anything at all they can find to make me look as bad as possible.’ Mr. Trump continued his tirade on Tuesday [7-2-19], suggesting that New York’s tax rate was driving away residents ‘like never before.’ The outburst prompted a return of fire from Mr. Cuomo on Tuesday, who issued a statement entitled, ‘President Trump’s Day 2 Twitter Tantrum,’ saying Mr. Trump was in ‘la la land.’”
–Jesse McKinley and Vivian Wang, “Trump vs. N.Y.: Fact-Checking His Claims of ‘Harassment’ by the State,” The New York Times online, July 2, 2019
26,178. 7/1/2019
LAWSUIT/NEW YORK/TRUMP BUSINESS: “President Donald Trump on Monday [7-1-19] accused New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo of deploying Attorney General Tish James as a ‘bludgeoning tool’ in a politically motivated legal campaign against Trump-branded businesses in the state…James was elected New York’s top law enforcement official in November 2018 after former Attorney General Eric Schneiderman, a frequent antagonist of the Trump administration, resigned in May 2018 amid allegations of physical abuse by several women. The Trump Foundation was forced to shut down in December 2018 and divvy up its remaining funds to various nonprofit groups under an agreement with acting Attorney General Barbara Underwood, who was appointed to carry out the remainder of Schneiderman’s term. The dissolution of the president’s personal charity followed an investigation Schneiderman first launched in September 2016 and a subsequent lawsuit brought by the attorney general’s office in June 2018, alleging that Trump and his children improperly benefited personally and politically from the organization.”
–Quint Forgey, “Trump accuses New York of harassing his businesses,” Politico, July 1, 2019 1:34 pm
26,168. 7/1/2019
DEMS/LAWSUIT/NEW YORK/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “It is very hard and expensive to live in New York. Governor Andrew Cuomo uses his Attorney General as a bludgeoning tool for his own purposes. They sue on everything, always in search of a crime. I even got sued on a Foundation which took Zero rent & expenses & gave away…”
–Donald Trump, Twitter.com, July 1, 2019 11:10 am
26,027. 6/26/2019
CALIFORNIA/LAWSUIT/TRUMP PEOPLE: “RT @JudicialWatch: A Judicial Watch lawsuit forced the state of California to begin removing more than 1.5 million potentially invalid name…”
–Donald Trump, Twitter.com, June 26, 2019 5:23 am
26,018. 6/25/2019
JUSTICE DEPARTMENT/LAWSUIT/TRUMP PEOPLE: “The Justice Department is suing former White House staffer Omarosa Manigault Newman for failing to file a financial disclosure report after she was fired in late 2017. In a civil complaint filed Tuesday [6-25-19] in Washington federal court, Justice Department attorneys said that Newman, the former reality star and longtime associate of President Donald Trump, had been told about the form before she left her position, and ignored multiple email requests for it in the weeks after her departure. Newman declined to comment about the lawsuit, according to her attorney, John Phillips. In a statement, Phillips said the White House had chosen ‘to abuse process and use the Department of Justice to carry out retaliation’…Phillips alleged the records Newman would need in order to file a report were seized by the White House counsel’s office when she was fired. The White House refused to acknowledge the documents existed until May 10, he said.. He said the documents are still being withheld by the White House, and the Department of Justice released the complaint before Newman had been served in the lawsuit.”
–David Shortell and Kate Sullivan, “Justice Department sues Omarosa Manigault Newman for failing to file financial disclosure report after she was fired,” CNN Politics, CNN.com, June 25, 2019 7:17 pm
26,010. 6/25/2019
COURTS/DEMS/LAWSUIT/TRUMP BUSINESS: “A federal judge on Tuesday [6-25-19] refused to put on hold a lawsuit by about 200 Democratic lawmakers accusing President Donald Trump of violating an anti-corruption provision of the U.S. Constitution with his private business dealings, a move that clears the way for them to seek some of his financial records. U.S. District Judge Emmet Sullivan rejected a request by Trump administration lawyers to halt the case and let them file an expedited appeal of key preliminary rulings he issued against the president. Sullivan said an immediate appeal would not be efficient. The lawsuit is one of two brought against Trump accusing him of violating the so-called emoluments clause of the Constitution, which bans U.S. officials from accepting gifts or payments from foreign governments without congressional consent. The other was brought by the Democratic attorneys general of Maryland and the District of Columbia.”
–Jan Wolfe, “Trump loses bid to halt Democratic lawsuit over foreign payments,” Reuters, June 25, 2019 12:18 pm
25,733. 6/14/2019
LAWSUIT/SEX ABUSE/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “A federal judge has dismissed a lawsuit in which a former campaign staffer accused President Donald Trump of kissing her against her will and alleged that Trump’s presidential bid engaged in pay discrimination against female and African American employees. Alva Johnson’s claim she was ‘forcibly kissed’ by Trump at an August 2016 campaign stop in Tampa, Florida, garnered most of the attention when she filed suit last February, but the discrimination claims were the subject of most of the early legal maneuvering in the case. U.S. District Court Judge William Jung, a Trump appointee, tossed out Johnson’s complaint Friday, saying it was too laden with political claims and attacks for the court to allow it to proceed…The judge said the portion of Johnson’s suit dealing with the alleged unwanted kiss was unfocused and dragged in more than a dozen other Trump acts that are not legally relevant to the question of whether Trump kissed her without her consent, something Trump aides and supporters present that day have denied.”
–Josh Gerstein, “Judge dismisses suit against Trump and campaign over forcible kissing, pay discrimination,” Politico, June 14, 2019 5:58 pm
25,076. 5/17/2019
LAWSUIT/MICHAEL COHEN/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT/WOMEN: “Stormy Daniels has reached a settlement with Michael Cohen and Keith Davidson, her former attorney, in her lawsuit that accused both men of working together to protect President Donald Trump. Daniels, an adult-film actress whose given name is Stephanie Clifford, sued Cohen, Trump’s former personal attorney, and Davidson last June, accusing them of brokering a deal in which she was paid $130,000 to prevent her from publicly speaking about her alleged sexual relationship with Trump. Trump has denied there was a sexual encounter, but his attorneys admit to approving the $130,000 payment to Daniels to ensure her silence. In the lawsuit, Daniels alleged that the two men ‘colluded’ and ‘acted in concert’ to ‘manipulate’ her and to benefit Trump. When the men became aware of an impending In Touch magazine article that would detail Daniels’ descriptions of her alleged affair with Trump, Cohen ‘hatched a plan to have Ms. Clifford appear on Mr. Sean Hannity’s program to falsely deny the accuracy of the In Touch article,’ the lawsuit stated.”
–Cheri Mossburg and Caroline Kelly, “Stormy Daniels reaches settlement with Michael Cohen and her former attorney,” CNN Politics, CNN.com, May 17, 2019 7:40 pm
25,019. 5/16/2019
LAWSUIT/TRUMP BUSINESS: “Assuming that he’s telling the truth — and with this President this may be a leap — Donald Trump made at least $434 million last year before expenses. His newly-released financial disclosure form shows much of this money came in the form of rent payments, asset sales, and golf course operations — with numerous other income streams coming from as far away as the Philippines and Turkey. What do the numbers really tell us? Aside from the fact that Trump seems very rich, they indicate that business is down at the President’s Mar-a-Lago resort, but slightly up at the Trump International Hotel in Washington, DC, where one is likely to find sycophants from all over the world. The report, which Trump filed to comply with federal rules, also shows massive liabilities, including five loans of $50 million or more, one in excess of $25 million, and eight in the range of $5 million to $25 million…The most tantalizing figure that can be gleaned from the Trump filing is the aggregate of loans owed to Deutsche Bank, which total at least $130 million. And since many of the figures in the form are reported as a range, that number could be significantly higher.”
–Michael D’Antonio, “Trump’s financial disclosure conceals a ton of secrets,” CNN Politics, CNN.com, May 16, 2019 1:05 am
24,640. 5/5/2019
LAWSUITS/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “RT @JudicialWatch: Judicial Watch President @TomFitton breaks down a list of lawsuits that Judicial Watch has filed to get to the truth abo…”
–Donald Trump, Twitter.com, May 5, 2019 8:45 am
24,544. 5/1/2019
JUSTICE DEPARTMENT/LAWSUIT/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “RT @JudicialWatch: JW announced that it filed a FOIA lawsuit against the DOJ for records of communications and payments between the FBI & f…”
–Donald Trump, Twitter.com, May 1, 2019 7:58 pm
24,502. 5/1/2019
LAWSUIT/TRUMP PEOPLE/UNION: “RT @mw_canterbury: @dbongino This is why more lawsuits are going to presented by union members because of misrepresentation by the top eche…”
–Donald Trump, Twitter.com, May 1, 2019 5:08 am
24,465. 4/30/2019
DEMS/EMOLUMENTS/LAWSUIT/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “A lawsuit from Democratic members of Congress over Trump business earnings from foreign governments while President Donald Trump is in the White House can continue to move forward, a federal judge decided on Tuesday [4-30-19]. The ruling, which firmly rebukes the President’s arguments, will empower Congress if they seek more information about payments received by Trump’s family businesses and other business details. Judge Emmet Sullivan’s opinion lands as House Democratic committees are seeking more details through subpoenas about Trump’s financial history. At issue in this case was the meaning of ’emolument’ — a term used in the Constitution that says US officeholders should not accept presents from foreign governments. With emoluments ‘defined broadly as any profit, gain, or advantage, it is clear,’ Sullivan writes, that Congress has ‘a plausible claim against the President for violations of the clause’…The case is one of the few legal tests of the constitutional clause — yet is among several suits that contest Trump’s family business while he’s in the White House.
-Katelyn Polantz, “Judge allows congressional Democrats’ lawsuit against Trump over business earnings to move forward,” CNN Politics, CNN.com, April 30, 2019
24,461. 4/30/2019
LAWSUIT/TRUMP BUSINESS: “Over two decades, Deutsche Bank lent Donald J. Trump billions of dollars, even as his tarnished financial record put him off limits for most of Wall Street…Now, Deutsche Bank is putting the president on the defensive. Lawyers for the bank have spent months cooperating with investigators from two Democratic-controlled congressional committees, which issued what one lawmaker called a ‘friendly subpoena’ to the bank in mid-April. The bank could end up sharing decades of his personal and corporate financial records. That prospect prompted Mr. Trump to file a lawsuit in federal court in Manhattan on Monday [4-29-19] in an attempt to block Deutsche Bank and another financial company, Capital One, from sharing documents. Mr. Trump’s lawyers said the subpoenas had no legitimate purpose and were an attempt to pry into his finances for political gain. The heads of the two committees that issued the subpoena, Representatives Maxine Waters and Adam B. Schiff, called the suit ‘meritless’ and an attempt to obstruct congressional oversight.”
–David Enrich, “Trump Wants to Block Deutsche Bank From Sharing His Financial Records,” The New York Times online, April 30, 2019
24,460. 4/30/2019
DEMS/HOUSE OF REPS/IMPEACHMENT/LAWSUIT/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT/TRUMP FAMILY: “The Trump family lawsuit to block oversight of its finances has House Democrats scrambling to confront what many see as the gravest threat to congressional independence since the Nixon era, reviving internal debate over the ultimate weapon in the Democrats’ arsenal: impeachment. For nearly two weeks, Democrats have debated how to respond to Robert S. Mueller III’s findings that President Trump might have obstructed justice, with Speaker Nancy Pelosi urging her fractious rank and file to avoid a broad, open-ended impeachment inquiry she believed could backfire disastrously in 2020. But Democrats see Mr. Trump’s latest string of provocations — starting with his blanket declaration last week that he would defy all subpoenas requested by Democratic committees and culminating in this week’s legal action — as a dangerous abuse of executive authority that they must address forcefully. Allies of Ms. Pelosi are publicly floating possible countermeasures, including even pursuing a narrow path to impeachment based on Mr. Trump’s refusal to respect the oversight authority of Congress, a move modeled on the third article of impeachment drafted against President Richard M. Nixon in 1974.”
–Glenn Thrush and Nicholas Fandos, “As Trump Family Sues to Block Subpoenas, Democrats Ponder Impeachment,” The New York Times online, April 30, 2019