The Daily Fuckup

Donald Trump’s effort to stop New York Attorney General Letitia James from pursuing a civil investigation into his business practices ended in court defeat on May 27, 2022, when a federal judge dismissed his lawsuit. The ruling did not settle the underlying questions about Trump’s company. It did, however, remove one of Trump’s attempts to shut the investigation down before it could keep going.

Trump had sued to block James from continuing the probe, arguing that the investigation should be halted. The court rejected that request. In practical terms, the decision meant the attorney general’s office could keep pressing ahead with its civil work while Trump’s challenge to it was thrown out.

The dismissal mattered because it left the investigation in place. A lawsuit aimed at stopping a probe is only as effective as the legal theory behind it, and in this case the judge found Trump’s bid did not justify the relief he wanted. The result was not a clean win for either side on the broader allegations. It was a win for James on whether her office could continue its inquiry without being blocked by Trump’s federal case.

For Trump, the ruling was another reminder that filing a lawsuit does not guarantee a check on investigators. For James, it meant the civil investigation could continue after the court cleared away the effort to freeze it. The underlying business inquiry was still alive after the decision, and the legal fight moved on from there.