New York AG's office says it's nearing end of Trump probe

NEW YORK (AP) — A lawyer for the New York attorney general’s office said Friday that the office is “nearing the end” of its three-year investigation into former President Donald Trump and his business practices.

Andrew Amer made the disclosure during a hearing in a federal lawsuit Trump filed against Attorney General Letitia James as he seeks to put an end to her investigation. His lawyers argued the probe is a politically motivated fishing expedition.

Trump is seeking a preliminary injunction to stop the investigation, which James has said uncovered evidence that Trump’s company, the Trump Organization, misstated the value of assets like skyscrapers and golf courses on financial statements for over a decade.

James has asked a judge to dismiss Trump’s lawsuit.

U.S. District Judge Brenda Sannes said she would weigh both issues and deliver a decision in writing. She heard arguments for about an hour via video. She did not give a timetable for a ruling.

Trump lawyer Alina Habba argued that James, a Democrat, campaigned for office in 2018 as a Trump antagonist and, as attorney general, has used the office to harass the Republican former president and his company with myriad subpoenas and evidence requests.

“We’ve produced millions and millions and millions of pages” of evidence,” Habba told Sannes. “We keep getting subpoenas. They keep looking for things. If they don’t find it, they look again.”

Amer, a special litigation counsel for James, countered that the state judge overseeing legal fights over subpoenas issued by the attorney general’s office has found there is a “sufficient basis for continuing its investigation.”

That finding, combined with evidence uncovered to date, “really shuts the door on any argument” by...