New York Attorney General Letitia James may interview former President Donald Trump and his two sons about their business practices, Judge Arthur F. Engoron ruled today.
Trump and his two sons tried to block James from interviewing them under oath, but the magistrate ruled in favor of the investigation that demanded these people be interviewed before next month.
The investigation by James’ office and a parallel criminal investigation led by the Manhattan district attorney are examining whether the former US president improperly inflated the value of his assets to receive favorable loans.
James insisted on interviewing Trump and his children Donald and Ivanka despite the efforts of the former president’s attorneys who argued she was politically biased in the case and was inappropriately using her civil investigation to aid the district attorney’s criminal investigation, in which is also participating.
According to a report in The New York Times, the ruling does not mean that the prosecutor will automatically receive the answers she seeks, since Trump and his children can invoke their constitutional right not to incriminate themselves, as the other adult son, Eric Trump, did when he was questioned by the attorney general’s office in October 2020.
So far, the New York attorney general says she has elements that could end up in a case against the Trump Organization for engaging in “fraudulent or deceptive” practices.
According to his statements, if he questioned the defendants he would be able to determine who was responsible for the false statements and omissions the organization made in its financial documents.
On Monday of this week, the organization Mazars USA distanced itself from the matter of the finances of the New York tycoon and his family organization by stating in a letter that “the Financial Statements of Donald J. Trump for the years ending June 30, 2011 – June 30, 2020, they should no longer be trusted.”
Those financial statements that are not audited are critical to civil and criminal investigations into Trump.
According to legal experts, if family members refused to answer questions as part of the civil investigation of James — as they are allowed to do under the Fifth Amendment — that decision could have negative repercussions for the criminal case.
On the other hand, in a civil trial, refusing to answer questions could hurt the Trumps and their silence could be used against them.
