Like many things involving the law and Trump, the reasons James, a Democrat, opted for a lawsuit rather than a prosecution are complicated.
Attorney General Letitia James didn’t seek to slap handcuffs on the Republican this week, as some of his critics hoped. Instead, she announced
— or obtain what’s known as a criminal referral from the governor or a state agency that has jurisdiction over the alleged wrongdoing.In a criminal case, prosecutors would have to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Trump intended to commit a crime. In the lawsuit — if it goes to trial — jurors would only need to be persuaded it was more likely than not that wrongdoing occurred.
A civil case, given its lower burden of proof standard, is “a lot easier to assemble … and probably win,” Tobias said. James said at a news conference Wednesday that her office was referring its findings to the U.S. attorney’s office in Manhattan and the Internal Revenue Service, and would share evidence of possible state law violations with the Manhattan district attorney’s office, if requested.
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