Donald Trump invoked his Fifth Amendment protection against self-incrimination as he testified in the New York attorney general's civil investigation into his business dealings.
Trump arrived at Attorney General Letitia James' Manhattan offices in a motorcade shortly before 9 a.m., before announcing more than an hour later that he "declined to answer the questions under the rights and privileges afforded to every citizen."
I once asked why you were taking the Fifth Amendment. The statement said that it was now known the answer to that question. When your family, your company, and all the people in your circle have become the target of a politically motivated witch hunt supported by lawyers, prosecutors and the Fake News Media, you have no choice.
Legal experts said that answering questions in a deposition was risky because anything he said could potentially be used against him in a parallel criminal investigation by the Manhattan district attorney. People are protected from being forced to be witnesses in a criminal case.
Messages were left with James.
There was a lot of legal activity surrounding the former president. FBI agents searched his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida as part of a federal investigation into whether he took classified records after leaving the White House.
New York's investigation involves allegations that Trump's company, the Trump Organization, lied about the value of prized assets like golf courses and skyscrapers.
Trump wrote on Truth Social that his company and himself were being attacked. There is aBanana Republic!
The office of James said in May that it was nearing the end of an investigation. The Republican's deposition was one of the few remaining missing pieces.
The attorney general could bring a lawsuit against Trump or his company, or even ban them from being involved in certain types of businesses.
Two people familiar with the matter said that Donald Jr. andIvanka testified recently. The people were not authorized to speak on the matter. They are not sure if they invoked the Fifth Amendment during their depositions. According to court papers, Eric Trump invoked the Fifth more than 500 times during his deposition in 2020.
According to court documents, James says her office has uncovered evidence that Trump's company used fraudulent or misleading asset valuations to obtain a host of economic benefits.
James claims that the Trump Organization overstated the value of its holdings to impress financiers or overstated the value of land to lower its tax bill.
According to James' office, the company overstated the size of Trump's Manhattan apartment by nearly three times its actual size.
It is a common practice in the real estate industry to seek the best valuations. He accused James of being racist in his pursuit of the investigation.
Trump's legal team fought James' attempt to question him for months, arguing that the district attorney's parallel investigation created a risk that he would be charged with a crime. The lawyers in James' office helped with the criminal investigation.
Trump had the right to decline to answer questions because of the criminal case, but the office of James had the right to question him, according to the judge.
After a new district attorney took office, a grand jury that had been hearing evidence was dissolved, stalling the criminal investigation. Bragg raised questions about the viability of the case, which led to the resignation of the top prosecutor.
The district attorney's investigation has led to criminal charges against the Trump Organization and its CFO, Allen Weisselberg, who are accused of tax fraud related to fringe benefits offered by the company.
Weisselberg and the company's lawyers are going to argue that the case should be thrown out.
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They were reporting from Washington. A reporter for the Associated Press in New York contributed.
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Michael Sisak and Michael Balsamo can be followed on the social networking site.
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There are more investigations related to Donald Trump.
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