Donald Trump Left Stunned by Letitia James News Before Court Showdown

Donald Trump has responded to reports that New York Attorney General Letitia James is funded by George Soros.

Trump is set to testify in court on Monday, November 6, as part of a lawsuit James filed in 2022, alleging that Trump and top executives including his sons at The Trump Organization conspired to increase his net worth by billions of dollars on financial statements provided to banks and insurers to make deals and secure loans.

In September, Judge Arthur Engoron issued a partial summary in the civil fraud trial, stating that they committed fraud. He ruled that Trump grossly inflated the value of his assets to obtain more favorable terms from lenders and insurers.

Over the weekend, the Republican reacted after Fox News reported that James, who is seeking $250 million in damages and to bar the former president from doing business in the state, has received funding from the Hungary-born billionaire Soros.

Citing state campaign finance records, it reported the 93-year-old financier spent at least $20,000 to help James' candidacy, including two $10,000 donations in 2021 and 2022. James, a Democrat, was elected New York attorney general in 2018 and re-elected in 2022.

Posting on his social media platform Truth Social, the former president responded to the story, calling the trial a "charade" and a "witch hunt". He wrote:

"Wow! Just found out that Corrupt and Racist Attorney General Letitia James of New York State is financially backed by George Soros. No wonder this 'TRUMP CASE,' being presided over by a highly partisan and out of control Judge who found me guilty before the trial even started, wouldn't allow a JURY, and said Mar-a-Lago, in Palm Beach, Florida, was worth only $18,000,000, when it is worth 50 to 100 times that amount, has become an embarrassment to the New York Judiciary. No new businesses want any part of this charade. WITCH HUNT!"

Neither Soros nor James has commented publicly on the Fox News report. Newsweek has contacted Soros' and James' office for comment.

Soros is a leading supporter of progressive and liberal political causes. In the most-recent midterm elections, campaign finance data showed Soros was the biggest single individual donor, giving more than $128 million exclusively to Democrats.

That has helped to make him a favorite target of right-wing conspiracy theorists, who accuse him of being a shadowy figure controlling various events from behind the scenes.

Political commentator Candace Owens spoke out in August about how she was getting frustrated with some fellow conservatives having a tendency toward conspiracy theories.

"I'm getting a little tired of the 'everything is a conspiracy' hive mind," Owens posted on X, formerly Twitter. "The people that think that nothing is real, everyone successful is a fake, and every person is being controlled by George Soros are equally as twisted as those who believe everything is as the media says."

Critics have said claims by the Trump team that the former president's legal troubles are because of Soros, who is Jewish, perpetuate conspiracy theories and antisemitic tropes about wealthy Jewish people pushing for global control.

It is not the first time Trump and his team have criticized the liberal donor. In April. the Trump team asked supporters for donations in an email, claiming Soros was trying to "bleed our campaign dry by dragging us through witch hunt after witch hunt".

Some Republicans have said Alvin Bragg, the Manhattan district attorney overseeing the indictment charging Trump for falsifying business records to conceal hush money payments to Stormy Daniels, is backed by Soros, despite the financier refuting these claims in statements to the press. Trump has pleaded not guilty in that case.

Fox News also reported that George Soros' son, Jonathan Soros, gave James' campaign at least $10,000 between 2018 and 2022, while Jonathan's wife, Jennifer Allan Soros, added $4,000 in 2022.

They added that James has also been funded by billionaire LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman, who has campaigned against Trump, and physician Karla Jurvetson, a Joe Biden donor.

Other notable contributors to James include director Spike Lee, former Meta executive Sheryl Sandberg, ex-Google CEO Eric Schmidt and billionaire environmentalist Tom Steyer.