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Trump Org Wins ‘Partial Victory’ as Judge Tosses Its Portion of D.C.’s Inauguration Lawsuit

A superior court judge has removed the ex-president’s family business as a defendant in suit brought by the D.C. attorney general.

Donald Trump’s family business has won a legal victory after a superior court judge struck it off as a defendant in a lawsuit brought by the D.C. attorney general over the fate of funds raised for the ex-president’s inauguration. Judge José López said the District of Columbia AG Karl Racine had not reached the “extreme burden” of proof to back up a claim that the Trump Inaugural Committee had “wasted” $1 million on ballrooms hired at Trump’s D.C. hotel. But the suit will continue on the claim of “private inurement”—or whether individuals benefited personally from money raised for nonprofit purposes. The ruling, described by ABC News as a “partial victory” for the Trump empire, removes the Trump Organization from the suit, but keeps both the hotel and the committee as named defendants. The Trump Inaugural Committee raised some $107 million in donations, twice as much as was spent on Barack Obama’s first inauguration in 2009.