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Trump's claim of bias by New York AG rejected in foundation suit

NEW YORK _ President Donald Trump's claim that a New York lawsuit against his personal charitable foundation was motivated by political bias of the state attorney general's office was rejected by a judge.

New York State Supreme Court Justice Saliann Scarpulla on Friday denied a request from Trump and his foundation to dismiss the suit in which the president and his three eldest children are accused of engaging in a decadelong pattern of self-dealing and using the nonprofit's funds for political purposes.

The lawsuit is one of the most serious legal challenges facing Trump and his family. Unless an appeals court blocks the attorney general, the process of uncovering evidence will allow the state's lawyers to reach deep into the Trump family's financial dealings, where some of the president's critics believe there will be evidence of yearslong improprieties.

Scarpulla said it isn't the job of the court to determine the motivation of a government agency at this point in the case, and that the lawsuit was filed after Eric Schneiderman, the former attorney general who resigned in an abuse scandal, left office. Trump frequently clashed with Schneiderman, who was a key figure in the resistance to Trump's agenda.

Neither the White House nor the foundation's lawyer, Alan Futerfas, immediately returned calls for comment.

_Bloomberg News