More trouble for Donald Trump and his family as SC Judge ruled in favor of New York Attorney General

In a civil investigation of the Trump Organization, a New York judge ordered former President Donald Trump and two of his children to testify under oath about the company’s business activities.

Attorneys for Trump, Donald Trump Jr., and Ivanka Trump had sought to have the subpoenas from Attorney General Letitia James’ office quashed, claiming that her investigation is politically motivated and intended to provide fuel for the Manhattan district attorney’s ongoing criminal investigation into the company.

Justice Arthur Engoron of the state Supreme Court gave the go-ahead for the three to be deposed within the next three weeks in his ruling. He also ordered the former president to turn over requested records and information within two weeks, dismissing the Trumps’ accusations of being singled out for special treatment.

“In the end, a state attorney general begins an investigation into a company entity, discovers substantial evidence of possible financial wrongdoing, and wishes to interrogate several of the entity’s principals, including its namesake, under oath. She clearly has the legal authority to do so “In his eight-page judgement, the judge wrote:

At a hearing earlier in the day, the Trumps’ lawyers stated that if Engoron allowed the depositions to continue, they would file an appeal. “There’s a good chance we’ll appeal,” said Alan Futerfas, the Trump children’s lawyer.

Trump said James was attempting to “interfere with my business relationships and the political process” in a statement released after the ruling.

“It’s the continuation of history’s greatest witch hunt—and remember, I can’t get a fair hearing in New York because of the judiciary’s dislike of me.” “It’s impossible!” Trump stated his opinion.

“The entire system is crooked,” claimed Kimberly Benza, a Trump Organization spokesperson.

“Today, justice triumphed,” James said in a statement after the judgement.

“No one, no matter how strong, shall be allowed to stand in the way of the pursuit of justice.” “No one is above the law,” she went on to say.

James’ agency is considering whether or not to pursue a civil lawsuit against the Trump Organization for allegedly falsifying financial accounts. Her agency claims to have “uncovered substantial evidence indicating many misrepresentations in Mr. Trump’s financial statements presented to banks, insurers, and the Internal Revenue Service,” according to court filings.

 

Several financial statements regarding the corporation, which James claims were inflated by hundreds of millions of dollars and which Trump signed off on, are among the issues James wants to question Trump about.

In January, the attorney general’s office stated that it had not yet made a final determination on whether the information it claims to have discovered merited legal action.

James wants to question the trio to inappropriately acquire evidence in a separate criminal investigation by the Manhattan district attorney’s office, according to the Trumps’ lawyers.

Two lawyers from James’ office are assisting the district attorney’s investigation, which has resulted in criminal charges being filed against the Trump Organization and its former chief financial officer, Allen Weisselberg. The firm and Weisselberg have both entered not guilty pleas to the charges, which include tax fraud and fabricating corporate records.

The judge added that if the Trumps were concerned about self-incrimination, they might invoke their Fifth Amendment rights during the depositions, noting that Trump’s son Eric had taken the Fifth Amendment more than 500 times when he was deposed for the investigation in 2020.

He case is “unique” because “this is a former president of the United States,” and if he takes the Fifth while answering questions, “he’ll be on every front page in the world,” according to Donald Trump’s lawyer, Ron Fischetti.

According to Engoron, there is nothing in the law that makes a former president special. The judge stated, “To me, he is a citizen.”

Although the United States Supreme Court has determined that exercising one’s Fifth Amendment rights does not constitute an admission of guilt, Trump gave a different perspective during his 2016 presidential campaign. “The mob takes the Fifth,” says the narrator. Why are you using the Fifth Amendment if you’re not guilty? ” After an assistant to competitor Hillary Clinton took the Fifth in a probe into her email server, he stated at a rally in Iowa.

Other problems for Trump have arisen as a result of the financial statement charges, including his longtime accounting company Mazars’ decision to terminate connections with the Trump Organization after reviewing the financial statements it assisted in preparing.