Newsman: The New York state Supreme Court ordered that former President Donald Trump and his eldest son, Donald Trump Jr. and eldest daughter, Ivanka Trump, testify under oath within 21 days, about the Trump Organization’s business practices in the state attorney general’s civil probe of the company. Donald Trump Jr. is an executive vice president of the Trump Organization, and Ivanka Trump was an executive vice president before joining her father’s administration.
Judge rejected arguments by attorneys for the Trumps who sought to block or stay subpoenas from New York State’s attorney general, Letitia James. Former President Trump’s attorney argued that New York State’s attorney general, Letitia James investigation is politically motivated and designed to provide fuel for an ongoing criminal probe into the company by the Manhattan district attorney’s office.
In his ruling, state Supreme Court Justice Arthur Engoron gave the green light for the three to be deposed within the next three weeks. Healso ordered the former president to turn over documents and information that had been subpoenaed within two weeks and portrayed the Trumps’ claims of being selectively targeted as overblown.
“In the final analysis, a state attorney general commences investigating a business entity, uncovers copious evidence of possible financial fraud, and wants to question, under oath, several of the entities’ principals, including its namesake. She has the clear right to do so,” the judge wrote in his eight-page decision.
The decision by Justice Arthur Engoron of the New York State Supreme Court came on Thursday after two hours of at-times heated oral arguments in which the Trumps’ attorneys argued that James’ probe constituted selective enforcement and “viewpoint discrimination” and could improperly mix the findings of a civil investigation with a separate criminal case that James is also a party to.
The former president criticized James’ investigation in a statement after the ruling.
“She is doing everything within their corrupt discretion to interfere with my business relationships, and with the political process,” Trump said. “It is a continuation of the greatest Witch Hunt in history — and remember, I can’t get a fair hearing in New York because of the hatred of me by Judges and the judiciary. It is not possible!”
James celebrated the ruling in a statement, saying, “Today, justice prevailed.”
“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.
The Trumps’ lawyers indicated at a hearing earlier in the day that they would appeal if Engoron let the depositions proceed. “There is a likelihood that we will appeal,” said Alan Futerfas, the attorney for the Trump children.
In a statement after the ruling, Trump said James was trying to “interfere with my business relationships, and with the political process.”
“It is a continuation of the greatest Witch Hunt in history—and remember, I can’t get a fair hearing in New York because of the hatred of me by Judges and the judiciary. It is not possible!” Trump said.
James began her civil investigation of the Trump Organization in March 2019, a few weeks after former Trump Organization executive Michael Cohen testified before Congress that Donald Trump “would direct me to lie to further his business interests” and provided three years of financial statements to bolster his claim.
James’ probe became publicly known in August 2020 when Eric Trump fought an effort to compel him to testify under oath, among other things, about the valuation of a tax break tied to a Trump-owned property north of New York City. Eric Trump eventually did testify over six hours, invoking his fifth amendment right against self-incrimination more than 500 times, according to James.
In December 2021, James sent subpoenas to Donald Trump, Donald Trump Jr. and Ivanka Trump, seeking sworn testimony from all three as well as documents from Donald Trump.
The move was seen by many as an indication that James’ investigation may be nearing its end, having already obtained hundreds of thousands of pages of documents from the Trump Organization, the company’s former accounting firm and Deutsche Bank, a lender. James has not yet made a determination on whether to bring a suit.
The fight over the subpoenas quickly escalated. Donald Trump and the Trump Organization jointly sued James in federal court in late December, demanding that a judge block James’ investigation.
In January, James said she had reached a preliminary finding that the Trump Organization “used fraudulent and misleading asset valuations to obtain economic benefits,” and she spelled out some of the questionable behavior in a 115-page court filing. Among other things, James suggested that Donald Trump tripled the reported square footage of his own Trump Tower apartment in order to increase its reportable value by hundreds of millions of dollars.
The probe appears to reach back more than a decade, examining Trump business transactions in Britain, California and New York.
This month, Mazars USA, the longtime accounting firm for the Trump Organization, ended its relationship with the company and warned in a letter that financial statements from 2011 to 2020 “should no longer be relied upon.”
James’ investigation unfolded in parallel with a criminal probe by then-Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr., who was replaced in January by Alvin Bragg.
In July, a grand jury indicted the Trump Organization and its former chief financial officer, Allen Weisselberg, alleging an elaborate scheme to avoid federal, state and local taxes. James has detailed attorneys from her office to work with the district attorney on his case, which may go to trial as soon as next summer.
