Donald Trump on Wednesday refused to answer questions under oath in New York in a civil investigation into alleged financial fraud in his family business, amid a political firestorm following the FBI raid of his Florida mansion.
The former US president said he had no choice but to invoke the Fifth Amendment to the Constitution, which allows people to remain silent to protect themselves against self-incrimination during interrogation.
“I declined to answer questions under the rights and privileges granted to all citizens by the Constitution of the United States,” Trump said in a statement.
“When your family, your company and everyone around you have become the target of an unfounded and politically motivated Witch Hunt supported by fake lawyers, prosecutors and media, you have no other choice,” he added.
“If I had any internal questions, the FBI raid of my home, Mar-a-Lago, on Monday, just two days before this statement, removed any doubts.”
Trump had earlier confirmed on social media that he was at the office of New York Attorney General Letitia James, whose investigation is one of several ongoing inquiries into the billionaire’s business practices and other actions.
The former president took to his platform Truth Social to launch a barrage of attacks on James, describing her as a “racist” attorney general who is “trying to ‘get Trump'” through legal action aimed at bringing him down politically.
James is conducting “a continuation of the Greatest Witch Hunt in American History!” Trump wrote. “My big company, and myself, are being attacked from all sides. Banana Republic!” he added.
James suspects that the Trump Organization fraudulently overstated the value of real estate properties when applying for bank loans, while understating them with tax authorities to pay less taxes.
Trump and his eldest children, Donald Jr and Ivanka, were due to testify under oath in July, but their testimony was postponed due to the death of their mother, Ivana Trump, the former president’s first wife.
– To the White House? –
The Trumps have denied any wrongdoing, and the former Republican president has said the investigation is politically motivated.
If James, an African-American Democrat, finds any evidence of financial misconduct, she can sue the Trump Organization for damages, but she can’t press criminal charges since this is a civil investigation.
Eric Trump, another son of the former president, attacked James in a tweet on Wednesday, saying his father would appear “for a deposition in front of the most corrupt attorney general in the United States.”
Donald Trump on Wednesday also released videos of James verbally attacking him, calling him an “illegitimate president” and promising a lawsuit.
The James investigation is one of several legal battles Trump is involved in that threaten to complicate his eventual White House bid in 2024.
The appearance in New York takes place after a search by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI, federal police) of the billionaire’s residence in Palm Beach, Florida.
The FBI, led by Trump appointee Christopher Wray, declined to give a reason for the raid.
But US media said agents were conducting a court-authorized search related to possible mishandling of classified documents that had been brought to Mar-a-Lago after Trump left the White House in January 2021.
Unsurprisingly, Trump expressed outrage at the break-in, calling it “use as a weapon of the justice system.”
From the White House, press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said that President Joe Biden received no advance notice of the search and that he respected the independence of the Justice Department.
Since leaving office, Trump has remained the most divisive figure in the country and continues to claim falsehoods that he actually won the 2020 election.
He has also faced intense legal scrutiny for his efforts to overturn the election results and for the Jan. 6 riot at the US Capitol by his supporters.
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