Former president Donald Trump is trying to block New York prosecutors from forcing him and two of his children to testify as part of an investigation into alleged fraud by the family's business.
In a motion filed Tuesday, attorneys for Trump and his family accused New York Attorney General Letitia James of "selective prosecution," according to a report from Reuters.
James has subpoenaed the former president, as well as Ivanka Trump and Donald Trump Jr., as part of her office's civil investigation into whether the Trump Organization misrepresented the value of its assets for financial benefit.
In the motion, the Trump family's attorneys pointed to an email from James' campaign to her supporters on Jan. 9, after she issued the subpoenas.
The campaign email warned that if Trump runs for president again in 2024, he "might win." It also stated that the Capitol insurrection "may be traced back to one person: Trump himself."
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In the motion, Trump's attorneys accused James of pursuing the former president due to her "dislike of his speech and political views" in an effort to "interfere with his political ambitions," according to Reuters.
"There can be no stronger basis for a claim of selective prosecution than the evidence presented herein," they wrote, calling the email "extraordinary, unprecedented and frankly appalling."
James responded in a statement calling the Trumps' motion a "baseless attempt" to "evade accountability."
"Throughout the three years of this investigation, they have never questioned our legal authority until Donald J. Trump himself was subpoenaed to testify," James said. "As with every investigation, we will continue to follow the facts wherever they lead."
