New York’s attorney general asked a judge on Tuesday to sanction former US President Donald Trump, his children, the Trump Organization and their lawyers for their responses to a $250 million civil fraud lawsuit filed against them, AFP reported.

The lawsuit, filed last September by Attorney General Letitia James, accused the defendants of engaging in a decade-long scheme to manipulate asset values ​​and value to get banks and insurers to offer better terms.

On Jan. 26, the defendants filed formal “answers” in which, as is often the case in such lawsuits, they denied or claimed they did not know enough about dozens of substantive allegations.

In a letter to the Manhattan judge handling the case, Arthur Engoron, James said many of the answers were “manifestly false,” frivolous or otherwise incorrect. She said the Trumps would have to lose some protections and also face sanctions.

“The court has already admonished the defendants and their attorneys for continuing to assert frivolous lawsuits, but has exercised its discretion not to impose such sanctions,” the letter said. “It seems that this aspect was not taken into account.”

Attorneys for the Trump defendants did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Among the inappropriate responses, James said, Trump objected to being called the “inactive head” of the Trump Organization during his time in the White House, even though he used that description in an October 2021 affidavit.

James criticized Trump’s daughter Ivanka for not knowing whether she had met with the bankers in person or whether she could confirm the content of her own emails.

In early January, Donald Trump ended two legal challenges to James’ lawsuit after a Florida judge fined him and his lawyer $937,989 for filing an “absolutely frivolous” lawsuit accusing Hillary Clinton of attempting to rig the US presidential election. of 2016.