NY Trump Foundation Suit Should Be Tossed For Ex AG's Ire: Lawyer

NEW YORK — Former New York attorney general Eric Schneiderman's enmity toward President Donald Trump should get the state's lawsuit against his charity tossed, a lawyer for the Trump Foundation argues in a new filing.

The lawyer, Alan S. Futerfas, cited what he called "pervasive bias" toward Trump by the state attorney general's office in a Thursday memorandum asking the sweeping lawsuit in Manhattan Supreme Court to be dismissed.

The memo also argues Trump can't be sued in state court while he's in the White House.

The petition Attorney General Barbara Underwood filed against Trump and his charity in June accused the Trump Foundation of "persistent" illegal activity and seeks to dissolve the foundation. Underwood has said the president used the charity as his personal checkbook.

Schneiderman started investigating the Trump Foundation before he resigned in disgrace in May amid allegations that he abused four women.

Schneiderman had been "inappropriately conflicted" since his probe started, Futerfas argued, citing the former AG's service on the "Leadership Council" of Hillary Clinton's Democratic presidential campaign.

The attorney general's office also insisted on getting the foundation closed down in court even though the charity wanted to dissolve on its own, Futerfas argued.

"(T)he NYAG should have recused itself long ago," the memo says. "The investigation and Petition are tainted, and the Petition should be dismissed."

The state Supreme Court, in which Underwood brought the suit, also doesn't have jurisdiction over Trump because its actions could "interfere with the Executive Branch embodied by the President," the memo says.

While Futerfas acknowledged that a president can be sued in federal court, the argument is reminiscent of the claim by one of Trump's lawyers that he can't be indicted by Special Counsel Robert Mueller, who is investigating Russian interference in the 2016 election.

Underwood's office stood by the lawsuit. Her communications director, Amy Spitalnick, said Trump's lawyer tried to argue Schneiderman was behind the suit even though Underwood brought it after the former AG resigned.

"As our lawsuit detailed, the Trump Foundation functioned as a personal piggy bank to serve Trump's business and political interests," Spitalnick said in a statement. "We won't back down from holding President Trump and his associates accountable for their flagrant violations of New York law."

(Lead image: President Donald Trump speaks at a rally in Evansville, Indiana on Aug. 30. Photo by Michael B. Thomas/Getty Images)