New York state judge rejects Trump claim that he can’t be sued because he’s president

Mark Lennihan | AP

In this April, 2010 file photo, Donald Trump, left, chairman and CEO of the Trump Organization, cuts the ribbon with his children Eric, Ivanka, and Donald Trump, Jr. right, at the opening of the Trump SoHo New York.

A New York Supreme Court judge on Friday denied a request from President Donald Trump and his family members to dismiss a lawsuit against them and the Trump Foundation alleging that the charitable foundation violated state and federal laws for “more than a decade.”

In her ruling, Justice Saliann Scarpulla shot down an argument from the Trump family’s attorneys that the case should be dismissed because the Supremacy Clause of the U.S. Constitution suggests “a sitting president may not be sued.”

Scarpulla also rejected Trump’s argument that the state court lacked jurisdiction over the president in this case. While the Constitution prohibits state courts from exercising “direct control” in a way that interferes federal officers’ duties, Scaruplla wrote: “Here’s the allegations raised in the Petition do not involve any action taken by Mr. Trump as president and any potential remedy would not affect Mr. Trump’s official federal duties.”

Scarpulla noted that the defendants “have failed to cite a single case in which any court has dismissed a civil action against a sitting president on Supremacy Clause grounds, where, as here, the action is based on the president’s unofficial acts.”

“I find that I have jurisdiction over Mr. Trump and deny Respondents’ motion to dismiss the petition against him on jurisdictional grounds,” she wrote, while also denying Trump’s request for discovery in the case,” Scarpulla wrote.

In a statement, New York state Attorney General Barbara Underwood praised Scarpulla’s decision.

“As we detailed in our petition earlier this year, the Trump Foundation functioned as little more than a checkbook to serve Mr. Trump’s business and political interests. There are rules that govern private foundations — and we intend to enforce them, no matter who runs the foundation. We welcome Justice Scarpulla’s decision, which allows our suit to move forward,” the statement read.

Neither the White House nor a lawyer for the Trump Foundation immediately responded to CNBC’s requests for comment on Scarpulla’s decision.

The suit, filed by Underwood in Manhattan State Supreme Court, alleged that Trump had misused the Trump Foundation “for his own personal benefit.”

The “pattern” of illegality, Underwood’s office wrote, included “improper and extensive political activity, repeated and willful self-dealing transactions, and failure to follow basic fiduciary obligations or to implement even elementary corporate formalities required by law.”

After Underwood first filed the suit in June, Trump had vented rage on Twitter against “the sleazy New York Democrats.”

Trump tweet 1

Trump tweet 2

This is developing news. Check back for updates.

–CNBC’s
Mike Calia
contributed to this report.