DC lawyer sues Trump over financial disclosure form
President Donald Trump. Gino Santa Maria / Shutterstock, Inc.
A Washington, D.C. lawyer has sued President Donald Trump for not specifically identifying his personal debts on his candidate’s financial disclosure form.
Politico reported Sunday that Jeffrey Lovitky, a government contracts and health law solo practitioner, has filed a complaint (PDF) with the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. Lovitky, who filed the complaint pro se, alleged that Trump had unlawfully commingled his personal debts with those of his various companies and that the public has a vested interest in knowing which of those debts are personal liabilities.
Trump’s debts take up just one page of his 104-page disclosure form, and his outstanding loans are listed as exceeding $300 million. Lovitky, however, claimed that the loans are much larger since most of them are mortgages that get recorded publicly. He told Politico that it’s impossible to tell, based on available public records, just who is responsible for the loans because Trump utilized limited liability companies.
“Really, the question is concerning the liabilities held by the LLCs, and we just need more information to be able to know whether or not those are personal or business liabilities,” Lovitky told Politico. “If you just look at the statement on its face, all those liabilities are assumed to be personal liabilities, but I just do not think that’s the case. I have information that says otherwise.”
According to Politico, the complaint is unrelated to the several lawsuits Trump is facing accusing him of unfair competition or violating the emoluments clause of the Constitution. Lovitky is seeking a writ of mandamus ordering Trump to refile his form separating his personal debts. “It’s mostly the fact that with this president there are very serious concerns about conflicts of interest in this particular administration, and I think it’s important that those concerns be addressed thoroughly,” he told Politico.
A White House spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment from Politico. A spokesperson for the Trump Organization declined to comment to Politico.
