In cryptic remark about Trump probe, NY AG Letitia James backs away from phrase 'corporate death penalty'

• NY Attorney General Letitia James made her most freewheeling remarks yet on the Trump Organization.
• The AG, who is investigating Donald Trump's business, said he used 'funny numbers' in valuating assets.

In a freewheeling appearance in New York City on Thursday night, NY Attorney General Letitia James backed away from the phrase 'corporate death penalty' while still vowing to hold Donald Trump's business accountable for the 'funny numbers' he used in a decade of financial statements.

"He was fraudulent in valuating his assets. We all know he used funny numbers in his financial documents," James said in a live taping of the podcast Pod Save America at Manhattan's Beacon Theater.

"I mean, he got caught," she said.

"So the evidence is clear. This has nothing to do with politics," she said. "It has to do with the law. The reality is that this organization should be held accountable."

It was at this point, halfway through her appearance, that James referred to the possibility of her office filing a lawsuit that would seek to dissolve the Trump Organization in its entirety — something the courts have called the corporate death penalty.

The phrase, at least, goes too far, she said.

"Some people described it as a corporate death penalty. I don't want to go that far," the AG said.

"All I want to do is make sure that [Trump] understands that he cannot use different assets for different organizations — for tax department, to obtain a mortgage, for insurance purposes, and other purposes — and he needs to be held accountable. Him and his corporation."

James also vowed "be successful" in whatever enforcement action she took, and to wait out all of the former president's appeals in getting there.

"He's still not cooperating, he's appealing," James said when asked by co-host Jon Lovett whether her legal successes so far have made Trump and his legal team more cooperative.

James recently won a $110,000 fine against Trump for his failure to fully comply with her subpoeana for his documents; her efforts to get sworn depositions from Trump, Ivanka Trump and Donald Trump, Jr. have so far succeeded in two Manhattan courthouses.

"And I'm going to allow him to exhaust his appeal(s)," she said. "At the end of the day, I'm confident that we will be successful."

A lawyer for the Trump Organization declined to comment. Trump's side has questioned whether James can succeed with any effort to dissolve the former president's hotel and golf resort empire; her efforts to similarly shut down the NRA have so far failed, though another of her lawsuits succeeded in shutting down the Trump Foundation.