Former President Trump appealed a New York judge’s order for him and his two eldest children to testify as part of a civil investigation into his business practices on Monday.
Lawyers for Trump, Don Jr. and Ivanka filed papers for a review from state apellate court after Judge Arthur Engoron compelled them to testify in a Feb. 17 ruling. The ruling gave the Trumps 21 days to appear, and the appeal is likely to back up the fight over the former president’s testimony for months.
The lawyers argue ordering the Trumps to testify violates their constitutional rights because anything Trump says in a civil deposition could be used against him in the criminal probe being overseen by the Manhattan district attorney´s office.
At a hearing prior to Engoron´s decision, Trump´s lawyers argued that having him sit for a civil deposition is an improper attempt to get around a state law barring prosecutors from calling someone to testify before a criminal grand jury without giving them immunity.
A federal judge has ruled that former President Donald Trump, Donald Trump Jr. and Ivanka Trump all must provide depositions in a civil fraud case
Manhattan Supreme Court Judge Arthur Engoron ruled that Trump, Don Jr., and Ivana must appear within 21 days
A lawyer for the attorney general´s office told Engoron that it wasn´t unusual to have civil and criminal investigations proceeding at the same time, and Engoron rejected a request from lawyers for the Trumps to pause the civil probe until the criminal matter is over.
Last summer, spurred by evidence uncovered in James´ civil investigation, the Manhattan district attorney´s office charged Weisselberg and the Trump Organization with tax fraud, alleging he collected more than $1.7 million in off-the-books compensation. Weisselberg and the company have pleaded not guilty. The future of the criminal probe was thrown into question last week when the two prosecutors leading it abruptly quit.
New York AG Letitia James argued that all possess vital information about Trump’s business dealings and assets. She has already accused Trump of boosting valuations on financial statements when seeking lending.
Trump is no stranger to depositions – he answered questions for 4 1/2 hours last year in a case brought by men who claimed they were assaulted by security at Trump Tower.
His other adult son, Eric Trump, previously testified in the civil case and repeatedly invoked the Fifth Amendment rights – more than 500 times, according to a filing by James’ office.
Don Jr. and Eric ran the Trump Organization along with now-indicted executive Allen Weisselberg while Trump was serving as president.
The decision comes after a bombshell filing Monday that revealed Trump’s longtime accounting firm Mazars USA had quit and that 10 years of financial statements could not be relied on.
While undoubtedly helpful for prosecutors, James has already been able to obtain a trove of information through subpoenas and interviews with other company officials.
She was able to obtain a wealth of tax and financial information from Trump’s longtime accounting firm, Mazars, following a case that went to the Supreme Court.
The ruling came down on a day when James, who is up for reelection, took a victory lap at the state Democratic Party convention in Manhattan, blasting former Gov. Andrew Cuomo and vowing she would not be ‘bullied.’
‘Today, justice prevailed,’ James said in a statement. ‘Donald J. Trump, Donald Trump, Jr., and Ivanka Trump have been ordered by the court to comply with our lawful investigation into Mr. Trump and the Trump Organization’s financial dealings. No one will be permitted to stand in the way of the pursuit of justice, no matter how powerful they are. No one is above the law,’ she added.
Trump this week accused James of ‘vicious intimidation tactics’ against his longtime firm, after Mazars said it could no longer rely on a decade’s worth of financial statements it worked on for him and announced it was ending its relationship with the company.
Ivanka Trump had an option to purchase a Park Avenue apartment leased to her by her father’s company for $8.5 million, according to the court order seeking testimony filed by the AG’s office. But the firm listed its value as high as $25 million in financial statements
Ivanka had an option to purchase the Park Avenue apartment for $8.5 million, according to the court order seeking testimony filed by the AG’s office, after leasing it on ‘extraordinarily favorable terms’. Ivanka is seen in the apartment with two of her kids
Trump said they were ‘essentially forced to resign from a great long-term account by the prosecutorial misconduct.’
Trump in his statement goes on to provide dollar figures for cash and marketable securities, escrow, reserve deposits and other categories he says lead to a net worth of $5.8 billion.
Earlier Thursday, Trump lawyer Alina Habba used a hearing in the former president’s alleged fraud case to accuse District Attorney Letitia James of going after him ‘probably because he can win again in ’24.’
The Bedminster, New Jersey-based lawyer also took the opportunity to accuse Trump’s 2016 rival Hillary Clinton of ‘spying’ on his campaign.
Channeling Trump’s tone in his frequent online statements and his demands to investigate his investigators, she told James and another lawyer for the state AG’s office: ‘I want to know … are you going to go after Hillary Clinton for what she’s doing to my client?’
Lawyers for the Trumps asked the appellate court Monday to consider three questions:
– whether James’ office is violating their rights by issuing subpoenas for their testimony while also participating in the criminal investigation;
– whether protections for grand jury witnesses under state law, such as immunity, can be ‘eviscerated, if the same agency involved in the criminal investigation simply opens a `civil´ investigation into the very same matters’;
– and whether Engoron erred in rejecting the Trumps’ contention that James has engaged in selective prosecution.
Engoron, in his ruling, said the thousands of pages of evidence he´s reviewed in the case shows there´s sufficient basis for continuing the investigation and undercuts ‘the notion that this ongoing investigation is based on personal animus, not facts and law.’
