# NY AG Letitia James drops the (civil) hammer {On Trump & Family} \[9/21/2022\] **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Tags:** trump\ **Created:** [September 21, 2022, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ny-ag-letitia-james-drops-the-civil-hammer-on-trump-family-9-21-2022/971991 "2022-09-21T16:13:24Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 42
**Author:** ![bobot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobot/32/21622_2.png) [@bobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobot)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2023, 2:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ny-ag-letitia-james-drops-the-civil-hammer-on-trump-family-9-21-2022/971991/822 "2023-10-30T02:07:29Z")
Seriously. All he did in 2016 was tap into the intolerance of the American right. Turns out the well was deep. ---
**Author:** ![Superdude](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/superdude/32/13450_2.png) [@Superdude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superdude)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2023, 2:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ny-ag-letitia-james-drops-the-civil-hammer-on-trump-family-9-21-2022/971991/823 "2023-10-30T02:29:01Z")
For those of us who apparently missed something, what’s the deal with the judge and the appellate court he keeps talking about? Since he keeps saying that the judge has ignored the appellate court’s decision, and he’s at-best capable of telling a half-truth, I assume that the appellate court sent one of the judge’s ruling back to him to be reconsidered, and the judge hasn’t done so, but even _that_ feels way too generous to credit Trump with. So what am I missing? ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Bravo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_bravo/32/493_2.png) [@Johnny\_Bravo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Bravo)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2023, 2:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ny-ag-letitia-james-drops-the-civil-hammer-on-trump-family-9-21-2022/971991/824 "2023-10-30T02:36:01Z")
An appeals court set the statute of limitations for the case at 2014. As he often does, Trump has jumped on that ruling as total exoneration. Engoron has also allowed documents and questioning about stuff from before 2014, provided the prosecution can relate them to crimes committed afterwards. So something something something radical leftist judge something something out to get him something something won’t somebody rid me of this meddlesome attorney general. ---
**Author:** ![Superdude](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/superdude/32/13450_2.png) [@Superdude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superdude)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2023, 2:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ny-ag-letitia-james-drops-the-civil-hammer-on-trump-family-9-21-2022/971991/825 "2023-10-30T02:44:01Z")
I suspected it was mostly bullshit, but thanks for clearing it up for me. ---
**Author:** ![Smid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/838e76/32.png) [@Smid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smid)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2023, 11:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ny-ag-letitia-james-drops-the-civil-hammer-on-trump-family-9-21-2022/971991/826 "2023-10-30T11:12:22Z")
I don’t buy into the “Trump is really clever, don’t underestimate him” argument. He isn’t pretending to be stupid, he really is stupid in a lot of ways, let’s just point back to all those election (shit, any of them) lawsuits won in the last five years. Or the fact he barely did anything real during his presidency apart from making friends with enemies. Or winning second election. Injecting bleach? Refusing to pay for his co-defendents lawyers? It really only points to maximum grift with intention to flee. ---
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2023, 11:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ny-ag-letitia-james-drops-the-civil-hammer-on-trump-family-9-21-2022/971991/827 "2023-10-30T11:21:33Z")
> [@Smid](#): > > Or the fact he barely did anything real during his presidency apart from making friends with enemies. He was pretty successful in waging war on the federal bureaucracy. 4 more years woulda been brutal. ---
**Author:** ![Si\_Amigo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/si_amigo/32/2877_2.png) [@Si\_Amigo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Si_Amigo)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2023, 1:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ny-ag-letitia-james-drops-the-civil-hammer-on-trump-family-9-21-2022/971991/828 "2023-10-30T13:01:26Z")
> [@Johnny\_Bravo](#): > > An appeals court set the statute of limitations for the case at 2014. As he often does, Trump has jumped on that ruling as total exoneration. > > Engoron has also allowed documents and questioning about stuff from before 2014, provided the prosecution can relate them to crimes committed afterwards. Trump has problems processing information that requires more than a gut reaction thought. He (and his legal team) pretend not to grasp that the statute of limitations applies to people that can be prosecuted, not to witnesses and documentary evidence. It’s a mostly minor delay tactic and annoyance. ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2023, 1:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ny-ag-letitia-james-drops-the-civil-hammer-on-trump-family-9-21-2022/971991/829 "2023-10-30T13:57:45Z")
> [@Dinsdale](#): > > He was pretty successful in waging war on the federal bureaucracy. 4 more years woulda been brutal Was he though? I know he put unqualified and unscrupulous people in charge, but I thought he most ignored the details of governing. But yes, four more years would have been brutal. Let’s hope we never learn how bad it could be. ---
**Author:** ![Odesio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/odesio/32/20003_2.png) [@Odesio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Odesio)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2023, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ny-ag-letitia-james-drops-the-civil-hammer-on-trump-family-9-21-2022/971991/830 "2023-10-30T15:04:26Z")
> [@Si\_Amigo](#): > > Trump has problems processing information that requires more than a gut reaction thought. He (and his legal team) pretend not to grasp that the statute of limitations applies to people that can be prosecuted, not to witnesses and documentary evidence. It’s a mostly minor delay tactic and annoyance. They say if you tell a lie often enough people will believe it. I find I often have difficulty trying to figure out whether Trump himself believes what’s coming out of his mouth. Given how careful he is to avoid saying in court what he says public, I have a sneaking suspicion he doesn’t believe his own lies. But I’m not sure it really matters in the end. ---
**Author:** ![EddyTeddyFreddy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eddyteddyfreddy/32/18796_2.png) [@EddyTeddyFreddy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EddyTeddyFreddy)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2023, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ny-ag-letitia-james-drops-the-civil-hammer-on-trump-family-9-21-2022/971991/831 "2023-10-30T15:05:27Z")
Truth is whatever he needs it to be at the moment. ---
**Author:** ![bobot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobot/32/21622_2.png) [@bobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobot)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2023, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ny-ag-letitia-james-drops-the-civil-hammer-on-trump-family-9-21-2022/971991/832 "2023-10-30T15:08:47Z")
> [@Odesio](#): > > Given how careful he is to avoid saying in court what he says public, I have a sneaking suspicion he doesn’t believe his own lies. Ding! Ding! Ding! ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2023, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ny-ag-letitia-james-drops-the-civil-hammer-on-trump-family-9-21-2022/971991/833 "2023-10-30T15:25:49Z")
> [@EddyTeddyFreddy](#): > > Truth is whatever he needs it to be at the moment. This. It is something I often see in his supporters as well: the tendency to simply assert the version of reality one prefers on the basis that it must be true because they want it to be. It’s not lying so much as turbocharged wishful thinking. ---
**Author:** ![Moriarty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/moriarty/32/49_2.png) [@Moriarty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moriarty)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2023, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ny-ag-letitia-james-drops-the-civil-hammer-on-trump-family-9-21-2022/971991/834 "2023-10-30T16:40:53Z")
> [@Gyrate](#): > > it must be true because they want it to be. Stephen Colbert’s _truthiness_. > **[The Word - Truthiness - The Colbert Report | Comedy Central US](https://www.cc.com/video/63ite2/the-colbert-report-the-word-truthiness)** > > Stephen promises to always feel the news at his viewers. ---
**Author:** ![Red\_Wiggler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/red_wiggler/32/13190_2.png) [@Red\_Wiggler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Red_Wiggler)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2023, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ny-ag-letitia-james-drops-the-civil-hammer-on-trump-family-9-21-2022/971991/835 "2023-10-30T21:37:48Z")
“The Trump-hating judge wouldn’t LET me tell the truth in court!” ---
**Author:** ![rocking\_chair](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rocking_chair/32/2918_2.png) [@rocking\_chair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rocking_chair)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2023, 12:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ny-ag-letitia-james-drops-the-civil-hammer-on-trump-family-9-21-2022/971991/836 "2023-10-31T00:58:55Z")
The 2 eldest trump sons are up for court testimony tomorrow and the next day. There has been a switch for next week, trump the father will go first on the 6th and ivanka will testify on the 8th. ---
**Author:** ![chappachula](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/d2c977/32.png) [@chappachula](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chappachula)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2023, 1:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ny-ag-letitia-james-drops-the-civil-hammer-on-trump-family-9-21-2022/971991/837 "2023-10-31T01:53:47Z")
> [@rocking\_chair](#): > > will go first on the 6th and ivanka …on the 8th. And then they^ll plead the 5th. 😀 ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2023, 2:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ny-ag-letitia-james-drops-the-civil-hammer-on-trump-family-9-21-2022/971991/838 "2023-10-31T02:20:40Z")
> [@chappachula](#): > > And then they^ll plead the 5th. On a Civil Case, for another defendant? Good luck with that. ---
**Author:** ![CurtC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ce73a5/32.png) [@CurtC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CurtC)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2023, 6:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ny-ag-letitia-james-drops-the-civil-hammer-on-trump-family-9-21-2022/971991/839 "2023-10-31T06:22:01Z")
The problem with pleading the 5th in a civil case is that the jury, or judge when there’s not a jury, is allowed to draw an adverse inference, that the fact that the witness pleads the 5th means that what they’re hiding must be really bad. That’s not allowed in a criminal trial, but it is in a civil case. ---
**Author:** ![bobot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobot/32/21622_2.png) [@bobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobot)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2023, 8:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ny-ag-letitia-james-drops-the-civil-hammer-on-trump-family-9-21-2022/971991/840 "2023-10-31T08:48:44Z")
Well, so far Trump has been nothing but courteous and respectful of Engoron and the court staff, so that’s bound to pay off for him! He’s a strategic wonder, I tell ya. ---
**Author:** ![Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/son_of_a_rich/32/5439_2.png) [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Son_of_a_Rich)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2023, 11:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ny-ag-letitia-james-drops-the-civil-hammer-on-trump-family-9-21-2022/971991/841 "2023-10-31T11:06:10Z")
When trump takes the stand, he should be asked why he calls James “Peekaboo”. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ny-ag-letitia-james-drops-the-civil-hammer-on-trump-family-9-21-2022/971991.md?page=41) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ny-ag-letitia-james-drops-the-civil-hammer-on-trump-family-9-21-2022/971991.md?page=43)