New York Attorney General Letitia James is seeking at least $250 million from former President Donald Trump and his company, accusing the real estate mogul of fraudulent business practices.
The testimony of Trump's former lawyer and longtime advisor Michael Cohen inspired the lawsuit, in part. The attorney, who was sentenced to three years in prison for lying to Congress on his then-boss' behalf, testified in Congress about Trump‘s alleged habit of inflating the worth of his assets.
"It's going to be the death spiral of the Trump Organization," Cohen said of James' civil suit, speaking to Errol Louis on "Inside City Hall" Monday. "There's a baseline settlement number of $250 million. A lot of people got this wrong by thinking the baseline was the ceiling. It is not. That is the absolute lowest."
"I believe she's going to be looking, based upon my knowledge of the personal financial statements, it'll be somewhere between ($750 million) to a billion. He does not have that money," Cohen added.
The former president's longtime lawyer said were Trump to run again and win, he might be able to stave off some criminal investigations, but would be unable to use executive powers and precedents to avoid James' civil suit.
However, Cohen doubted the man he advised for more than a decade would run for a third time in 2024.
"Trump has a real problem with being called a loser," Cohen said. "He cannot stomach being a two-time loser. He has incredibly fragile ego."
"I do not believe he is going to run," he added.
Responding to reports the Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg is unlikely to pursue criminal prosecution of Trump's business practices, Cohen said he was "angered" by the decision.
Manhattan prosecutors, Cohen said, visited him three times at federal prison in Otisville, New York where he gave them "documentary evidence" and a "roadmap into how the company functioned."
In his new book, "Revenge: How Donald Trump Weaponized the U.S. Department of Justice Against His Critics," Cohen goes into detail on how he said Trump abused real estate and tax laws to his advantage, as well as how he commandeered the Department of Justice to go after his political enemies as president.
"Donald Trump will lie about anything and everything if he thinks that there's an advantage," Cohen said.