Why New York is suing Trump for $250 million

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NY attorney general sues Trump over inflated property values; Putin mobilizes up to 300,000 Russian troops.

Tonight's Sentences was written by Jariel Arvin.

New York sues the Trumps for business fraud

Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images 

• On Wednesday, New York’s attorney general sued Donald Trump, three of his children, and two company executives, accusing them of overstating property values to help the former president enrich himself. [Guardian / Hugo Lowell, Maya Yang, and Martin Pengelly]
• In a  civil lawsuit, Attorney General Letitia James alleges Trump and his employees inflated the value of assets for years to receive tax breaks and favorable loan and insurance rates. It aims to recover $250 million. [Washington Post / Shayna Jacobs and Jonathan O’Connell]
• James also seeks to have Trump and his organization banned from buying commercial real estate or receiving bank loans for five years and to permanently bar Trump, Donald Jr., Ivanka, and Eric Trump from serving as executives in any New York companies. [Associated Press / Michael R. Sisak and Larry Neumeister]
• The sprawling suit is the culmination of a three-year civil investigation into the Trump Organization’s business practices. Trump attorney Alina Habba called the filing politically motivated. [CNN / Kara Scannell, Tierney Sneed, and Marshall Cohen]
• While James cannot file criminal charges, her suit claims Trump and his associates likely broke state and federal laws. She said she plans to refer the decision on pressing charges to federal prosecutors. [Vox / Andrew Prokop]

📍 Go deeper

Vox’s Ian Millhiser explains the four significant criminal probes surrounding former President Donald Trump. [Vox / Ian Millhiser]

Putin mobilizes additional Russian forces

• Russian President Vladimir Putin announced in a speech Wednesday that he has ordered the mobilization of up to 300,000 army reserves to bolster Russia’s war in Ukraine amid recent setbacks. [Vox / Jen Kirby]
• The troop escalation would mark Russia’s first partial enlisting since World War II. However, Putin stopped short of a complete draft. [AP / Karl Ritter]
• Putin also expressed support for staging referendums to annex parts of Russian-occupied Ukraine, and suggested Russia would be willing to use nuclear weapons to protect its territory. [Washington Post / Robyn Dixon, Catherine Belton, and Mary Ilyushina] 
• President Joe Biden lambasted Putin’s mobilization and rhetoric as a sign of Russia’s weaknesses. [NBC News]
• Following Putin’s announcement, one-way flights out of Russia sold out or surged in price, as some feared they could soon be unable to leave the country. [Reuters / Caleb Davis]

The Federal Reserve hiked interest rates three-quarters of a percentage point for a third time on Wednesday to try to cool near-record inflation. [Vox/ Madeleine Ngo]

• Three migrants flown from Texas to Martha’s Vineyard have sued Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and state officials for violating constitutional protections. [Miami Herald / Bianca Padró Ocasio and Lawrence Mower]
• Two hundred thirty pilot whales were stranded on a beach in Tasmania on Wednesday — exactly two years after the worst mass whale stranding recorded in Australia. [New York Times / Natasha Frost]
• Former Minneapolis police officer Thomas Lane was sentenced to three years in prison Wednesday for his role in George Floyd’s death. [MPR News / Jon Collins]

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“Claiming you have money that you do not have does not amount to the art of the deal. It’s the art of the steal.”

[NY AG Letitia James on the Trump lawsuit / AP]

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