Donald Trump has tried throughout his presidency so say that he has done things no other president could ever do. At this point, that seems to be true, if being taken to court on criminal charges during a presidency is counted. No other president to date has done that.
‼️NY AG @TishJames sues Trump Organization, revealing state investigation into the company’s financial dealings. https://t.co/6nJ0wLF28d
— Katie Phang (@KatiePhang) August 24, 2020
The latest serious charges against the president involve his business, the Trump Organization. During his trial in 2018, former Trump attorney and “fixer” Michael Cohen testified that Trump routinely inflated property values on business documents and devalued them at tax time, constituting both tax fraud and defrauding investors.
According to The Washington Post:
‘The filing asks a New York state judge to compel the Trump Organization to provide information it has been withholding from investigators — including a subpoena seeking an interview with the president’s son Eric.’
New York Attorney General Letitia James tweeted about the case on Monday just as the Republican National Convention got into full swing nominating Trump as the presidential candidate of the Republican Party. AG James promised to treat the case, and the defendants, the same way that she would any other suspect. Eric Trump’s involvement, for instance, will require him to answer questions, although The Washington Post reports that he has so far been unwilling to do so.
‘The filing said that Eric Trump had been scheduled to be interviewed in the investigation in late July, but abruptly canceled that interview. The filing says that Eric Trump is now refusing to be interviewed, with Eric Trump’s lawyers saying “we cannot allow the requested interview to go forward … pursuant to those rights afforded to every individual under the Constitution.”’
Breaking News: President Trump must provide his tax returns to the Manhattan district attorney, a federal judge ruled again, rejecting the president’s arguments. https://t.co/HNwTqCmap9
— The New York Times (@nytimes) August 20, 2020
Trump’s fights with the New York Attorney General’s office is not limited to a single criminal charge. Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance is currently looking into other charges of fraud related to Trump’s tax returns and financial disclosure documents. Two other cases against Trump University and the Trump Foundation also went through tough fights in the New York court system.
‘A previous attorney general, Eric Schneiderman, sued Trump for defrauding students at his “Trump University,” in a case that led Trump’s school to pay $25 million to settle in 2016.
‘Later, the Attorney General’s office sued Trump for misusing donations in his nonprofit, the Donald J. Trump Foundation, to buy art for his clubs, pay off legal obligations for his businesses and to help his own political campaign. That suit ended last November, with a state judge ordering Trump to pay $2 million in damages.’
The New York Attorney General’s Office is investigating whether the Trump Organization and President Trump inflated his assets in financial documents. https://t.co/pgS00M78dI
— Capital Journal (@WSJPolitics) August 24, 2020
