Update (Jan. 19, 2022): New York Attorney General Letitia James announced late Tuesday she has filed a motion to compel testimony from former President Donald Trump, as well his children Ivanka and Donald Jr. She also wants documents from former President Trump.
“Since moving to compel the testimony of Eric Trump in August 2020, the Office of the Attorney General (OAG) has collected significant additional evidence indicating that the Trump Organization used fraudulent or misleading asset valuations to obtain a host of economic benefits, including loans, insurance coverage, and tax deductions,” James’ office said in a news release. “While OAG has not yet reached a final decision regarding whether this evidence merits legal action, the grounds for pursuing the investigation are self-evident.”
The Trump Organization issued a statement Wednesday calling the civil investigation “baseless” and politically motivated. They added “the only one misleading the public is Letitia James.”
“She defrauded New Yorkers by basing her entire candidacy on a promise to get Trump at all costs without having seen a shred of evidence and in violation of every conceivable ethical rule,” the organization wrote in the statement. “Three years later she is now faced with the stark reality that she has no case.”
Update (Jan. 3, 2022): In her latest bid to secure testimony from former President Donald Trump, New York Attorney General Letitia James subpoenaed Trump, Ivanka Trump, and Donald Trump Jr. According to the court filing, which was made public Monday, the subpoenas seek testimony and documents “in connection with an investigation into the valuation of properties owned or controlled” by Trump and the Trump Organization.
Monday’s court filing was the attorney general office’s first public acknowledgement that it has previously subpoenaed Trump’s testimony. It was also the first public disclosure that investigators were also seeking information from Ivanka Trump and Donald Trump Jr.
Messages seeking comment from lawyers for the Trumps and James’ office were not immediately returned. The Trumps are expected to file court papers seeking to quash the subpoenas.
Eric Trump, another of Trump’s adult children, was questioned by James’ office last October. According to the New York Times, who first reported the subpoena, Eric Ivanka and Donald Jr. have been deeply involved in the Trump Organization for a long time.
Update (Dec. 20, 2021): Less than two weeks after New York Attorney General Letitia James asked former President Donald Trump to provide testimony as part of an investigation into the Trump Organization, Trump sued James. The lawsuit seeks a permanent injunction barring James from investigating him. Trump is also seeking a declaratory judgment stating that James has violated his free speech and due process rights.
The lawsuit describes James as having “personal disdain for Trump,” and calls her investigation a “thinly-veiled effort to publicly malign Trump and his associates.”
“Her mission is guided solely by political animus and a desire to harass, intimidate, and retaliate against a private citizen who she views as a political opponent,” Trump’s lawyers wrote in the lawsuit. James responded to the lawsuit in a statement.
“The Trump Organization has continually sought to delay our investigation into its business dealings and now Donald Trump and his namesake company have filed a lawsuit as an attempted collateral attack on that investigation,” James said. “To be clear, neither Mr. Trump nor the Trump Organization get to dictate if and where they will answer for their actions. Our investigation will continue undeterred because no one is above the law, not even someone with the name Trump.”
Original Story (Dec. 9, 2021): According to people familiar with the matter who spoke with The Washington Post on the condition of anonymity, New York Attorney General Letitia James has asked former President Donald Trump to provide testimony as part of her civil investigation into potential fraud inside the Trump Organization. The requested deposition is set for Jan. 7.
James has spent more than two years looking at whether the Trump Organization misled banks or tax officials about the value of assets by inflating them to gain favorable loan terms or minimizing them to reap tax savings. Requesting testimony from Trump could eventually lead to issuing a subpoena and going to a judge to order him to cooperate if he were to refuse. While Trump’s representatives did not immediately response to requests for comment, the Trump Organization did release a statement to the Post.
“This is another political witch-hunt,” the statement said. “The only focus of the New York AG is to investigate Trump, all for her own political ambitions … This political prosecution is illegal, unethical and is a travesty to our great state and legal system.”
James’ civil investigation into the Trump Organization differs from Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr.’s criminal investigation. That investigation has led to the indictment of the organization and its longtime CFO Allen Weisselberg on tax fraud charges. Weisselberg pleaded not guilty to the charges, which alleged he and the company cheated tax authorities with lucrative, untaxed fringe benefits. He is due back in court next July.
While the civil and criminal investigations are different, James has been involved in both. Her involvement in those investigations, as well as the one into former Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D-NY) is part of the reason James decided Thursday to suspend her gubernatorial campaign.
“I have come to the conclusion that I must continue my work as attorney general. There are a number of important investigations and cases that are underway, and I intend to finish the job,” James announced on Twitter. “I am running for re-election to complete the work New Yorkers elected me to do.”
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