Former US president Donald Trump on Monday sues New York Attorney General Letitia James, seeking to stop her civil fraud investigation into his business.
The lawsuit, filed in federal court in Syracuse, New York, comes as Ms James' office seeks to question Mr Trump as it probes whether his company, the Trump Organization, manipulated the valuations of its real estate properties.
Ms wants Mr Trump to sit for a January 7th deposition as part of the investigation, according to a previous report in the Washington Post.
"This is not part of the criminal investigation," said a spokesman for the Manhattan District Attorney.
The civil probe is related to but separate from the more-than three-year criminal probe by Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance of the Trump Organization's business practices, which Ms James joined in May.
In July, the company and longtime chief financial officer Allen Weisselberg pleaded not guilty to criminal charges in what a prosecutor in Mr Vance's office called a "sweeping and audacious" 15-year tax fraud.
Mr Trump, a Republican, has not been charged with crimes or accused of wrongdoing, and has called the probes politically motivated.
