Former US President Donald Trump's company has sued the New York City administration, accusing it of “improperly” terminating a golf course contract with the Trump Organization after Trump supporters stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6, according to reports in the American media.
New York Mayor Bill de Blasio had terminated Trump’s contract to run the Ferry Point golf course in January, citing Trump’s role in the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol. The city said that Trump had tarnished his brand name such that he could never operate a “first class, tournament quality course” as the city wanted, according to court papers cited by the Washington Post.
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The lawsuit alleged de Blasio disliked Trump because of his politics and used the Capitol insurrection “as a pretext” to carry out a political vendetta.
The company urged a New York state judge to reverse de Blasio’s decision and allow Trump to continue operating the city-owned course beyond its scheduled closure in November.
Nick Paolucci, a spokesman for the city’s Law Department, said that the city believed its actions were proper, and that it still intended to select a new operator for the course, according to the Washington Post report.
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"De Blasio had a pre-existing, politically-biased predisposition to terminate Trump-related contracts, and the City used the events of January 6, 2021 as a pretext to do so," the lawsuit added.
The Trump Organization says the city, in ending the contract, cited the unlikelihood of the company being able to attract a professional tournament to the golf course following the negative publicity surrounding the Capitol riot.
After the attack on the Capitol, the city also ended contracts with the Trump Organization to run two skating rinks and a carousel in Central Park.
Hundreds of Trump supporters had stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6, interrupting the formal congressional certification of President Joe Biden's election victory. Trump had triggered the attack with inflammatory speech, repeating false claims of cheating in the presidential election which had provoked his loyalists.
