A federal judge on Friday ruled against former President Donald Trump is his quest to shut down an ongoing investigation by New York Attorney General Letitia James (D) into the Trump Organization.
“In sum, the Court concludes that Plaintiffs could have raised the claims and requested the relief they seek in the federal action in the New York proceeding and that there is an identity of claims. Because all three requirements of res judicata are satisfied, even if Younger abstention were inappropriate, the Court would grant Defendant’s motion to dismiss Plaintiffs’ complaint for failure to state a claim under Rule 12(b)(6),” U.S. District Judge Brenda K. Sannes wrote, tossing the case.
Before Judge Sannes dismissed plaintiff Trump’s case without prejudice, she recounted the litany of alleged constitutional violations as follows:
Plaintiffs assert that Defendant has: (1) violated their Fourteenth Amendment due process rights by commencing “investigations against Plaintiffs in bad faith and without a legally sufficient basis,” (2) violated their First Amendment rights by seeking to stifle Plaintiffs’ free speech and retaliate against Plaintiffs based upon Mr. Trump’s political views, (3) violated their Fourth Amendment rights by issuing subpoenas without any “justifiable legal or factual basis,” and (4) abused process to advance her own political career and injure Mr. Trump personally and politically. (Id. ¶¶ 102–55). Plaintiffs seek declaratory judgments that Defendant has violated their constitutional rights and that her investigations constitute an abuse of process, as well as “a preliminary and permanent injunction” “requiring Defendant to immediately cease or, at a minimum, appropriately limit all ongoing investigations of Plaintiffs pending resolution of this action” and “granting Plaintiffs relief from Defendant’s ongoing, unbounded investigations and enjoining her from being involved in any manner in any civil or criminal actions against Plaintiffs.” (Id. at 29–30).
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