Attorney General Ellison to court: No One is Above Fraud Laws… Not Even Donald Trump

Joins coalition of 17 in filing brief to protect state AG enforcement of fraud-fighting laws

October 30, 2026 (SAINT PAUL) — Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison today joined 17 attorneys general in defending a basic principle: fraud is against the law, no matter who commits it or how big or sophisticated the victim is.

Attorney General Ellison and the coalition joined a friend-of-the-court brief today in the civil fraud case that the State of New York brought against Donald Trump and his business associates for inflating the values of assets to obtain better terms on loans and insurance policies. On appeal, Trump and his fellow defendants are asking New York’s highest court to rule that the state had no business stepping in because the banks they defrauded were big, sophisticated institutions that never complained. That argument, if it prevails, could make it harder for attorneys general across the country, including in Minnesota, to go after fraud on behalf of the public.

“The biggest fraudster in America — and the most nakedly corrupt president of all time — wants a court to rule that fraud doesn’t really matter when people of his wealth and power commit it. He makes that point over and over when he pardons every billionaire fraudster he can,” Attorney General Ellison said. “Donald Trump wants to rip up our Constitution and rip off the legal guardrails holding him back from wreaking his grubbiest and most authoritarian impulses on the rest of us. But in America, everyone is equally protected under the law, and no one is above the law. Especially not Donald Trump.”

Minnesota law already provides Minnesota’s attorney general many tools to step in when charities or businesses are used to cheat or deceive — even if the people directly involved or harmed do not take action themselves. Many other states have similar laws. The brief that Attorney General Ellison and the coalition filed today explains why these laws matter:

• Fraud hurts more than the people in the deal. It warps the marketplace and chips away at the idea that the rules apply to everyone.
• Cheaters get an unfair edge. A business that lies to get cheaper loans can undercut honest competitors, and consumers end up paying for it.
• When big institutions get hurt, regular people feel it. Fraud against a large bank puts its employees, depositors, and everyone who relies on it at risk.
• Sometimes no one else will act. Powerful players may have their own reasons for staying quiet, including their own enrichment. An attorney general’s job is to look out for the public, not just the self-interested parties at the table.

The case, People v. Trump, is before the New York Court of Appeals, New York’s highest court. New York Attorney General Letitia James brought it under a state law that authorizes her office to go after repeated or ongoing business fraud. The defendants are Donald Trump, Eric Trump, Allen Weisselberg, and Jeffrey McConney.

Attorney General Ellison joined this brief alongside the attorneys general of Arizona, California, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaiʻi, Illinois, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, Oregon, Vermont, Virginia, and Washington.