Trump's former lawyer: Lawsuit to put an end to Trump's entire company

The former personal lawyer to former US President Donald Trump, Michael Cohen, says he believes the lawsuit filed by New York State Attorney General against the Trump Organization will destroy the company.

Following Letitia James' civil fraud lawsuit announced against the Trump family and their businesses on Wednesday, Cohen commented that the investigation is “going to put an end to the entire company,” on MSNBC’s “All In with Chris Hayes."

At least $250 million in penalties are demanded by James in addition to a permanent ban on Trump and his family members from having the position of officer or director in any company in New York. The Attorney General also noted she expects penalties to rise up to $750 million as the case unveils the full extent of the organization’s alleged crimes.

Read: Trump attorneys attempt to quell subpoenas

Cohen served the Trump Organization from 2006 to 2018 as Trump’s personal lawyer. In 2018, the lawyer pleaded guilty to several crimes, including making false statements to a financial institution, tax evasion, and other charges. He was also convicted in a separate case for lying to the Senate and House Intelligence Committee.

James stated on Wednesday morning that her investigation started after Cohen testified bout the Trump Organization’s business practices in front of Congress and has been probing into Trump's business practices in a civil investigation for more than three years.

“When [James] mentioned my name, I was obviously quite elated, to be honest, because I’m finally getting the recognition for what I’ve been sitting on the mountain tops yelling for three and a half, four years,” Cohen said on MSNBC. “Which is that the Trump Organization is a criminal enterprise and that I got thrown under the bus by dear old Donald.”

James also said while announcing the lawsuit that she referred several alleged federal violations to the US Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York and the IRS.

The Trump Organization has referred to James' charges as "baseless" and the former President of the United States, a Republican, has denied any wrongdoing and dubbed James' investigation a politically motivated "witch hunt" given that James is a Democrat.

The former president also expressed himself on his social media platform Truth Social, saying that James is “racist” and “perhaps the worst crime fighter in the Country.”