Trump Again Claims N.Y. AG James Drove Exxon Out Of New York—But Company Left In 1989

Topline Former President Donald Trump blamed New York Attorney General Letitia James for driving Exxon out of New York while speaking to reporters outside of his Manhattan civil fraud trial Thursday—even though the company moved its headquarters out of New York City more than 30 years ago. Former US President Donald Trump speaks to the press as he departs closing arguments in his civil ...

[+] fraud trial in Manhattan. (Photo by TIMOTHY A. CLARY/AFP via Getty Images) Key Facts Trump equated James’ lawsuit alleging he lied about his net worth to secure more favorable business deals to Exxon’s departure from Manhattan in 1989, telling reporters “she should be criminally liable for this, she did this to Exxon, and they drove Exxon out of New York.” Exxon moved its headquarters from Manhattan to Dallas in 1989, the year James received her law license.

Trump then went on to rant about taxes and crime in New York and said that’s why businesses are fleeing. The former president made similar claims on Truth Social in December, when he said James and her team “are responsible for driving ExxonMobil out of New York.” Tangent Trump in December referenced a civil case James’ office lost against Exxon in 2019 that accused it of downplaying the risks of climate change regulations, essentially defrauding its shareholders.

The case was filed by James’ predecessor, Barbara Underwood. Key Background Trump was in court Thursday for closing arguments in the case accusing him, his company and his two adult sons of misstating the value of his assets on financial documents more than 200 times between 2011 and 2021. Trump already lost a portion of the case when Judge Arthur Engoron ruled in September that Trump and his co defendants committed fraud by inflating the size and worth of his properties, including his Trump Tower penthouse and Mar a Lago estate.

Trump and his co defendants have sought to distance themselves from the allegedly false financial statements throughout the trial, and Trump has repeatedly argued the lenders and insurers he is accused of defrauding were responsible for fact checking his financial statements, an argument Engoron has rejected.

James is seeking a $370 million fine against Trump in the case. What To Watch For Engoron is likely to deliver a verdict in the case at the end of January..