New York Judge Arthur Engoron has rejected an attempt to block the push by New York state Attorney General Letitia James (D) for testimony from former President Donald Trump and two of his adult children, including Donald Jr. and Ivanka. James has been seeking this testimony amid her civil investigation of the Trump family business; that investigation has focused on apparent fraudulent adjustments of valuations for the Trump company’s assets, with those varying valuations meant to help secure financial benefits, such as favorable loan terms. As summarized by The New York Times, James “said that by questioning [Donald, Don Jr., and Ivanka], she would be able to determine who was responsible for the misstatements and omissions that the organization made in its financial documents.”
Judge Engoron on the Trump case: "The target of a hybrid civil/criminal investigation cannot use the Fifth Amendment as both a sword and a shield; a shield against questions and a sword against the investigation itself."
— Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) February 17, 2022
Engoron also ruled that Donald must provide additional documents in response to a subpoena from James. James commented as follows after Engoron’s ruling:
‘Today, justice prevailed. 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.’
Ahead of this week’s hearing, a report from Business Insider outlined how the New York Attorney General had zeroed in on certain troves of personal files associated with the former president, which one source told the publication covered decades. As Insider recently explained, “investigators’ sights are set on two dozen beige, metal file cabinets in the former president’s Trump Tower headquarters on Fifth Avenue in Manhattan. The cabinets line a back wall of the skyscraper’s 26th floor, where Trump has his executive offices.” The Trumps have consistently maintained a sharply oppositional stance to James’s probe, which isn’t poised to lead to criminal charges, since it’s civil in nature. James is, however, involved in a related criminal investigation by the Manhattan District Attorney’s office into the Trump family business, and Trump’s side has claimed — unsuccessfully, it turns out — that complying with James’s demands for testimony in her civil probe could unfairly impact the course of the ongoing criminal investigation.
As Donald Trump & US House Admin. Cmte Republicans question Speaker Nancy Pelosi for Jan 6 security at Capitol, Rep Zoe Lofgren (D-CA) just pointed out:
On Jan 6 2021: Capitol Police Board members were appointed by Trump, Senate Republicans & former GOP Speaker John Boehner
— Scott MacFarlane (@MacFarlaneNews) February 17, 2022
Before this week’s hearing, Eric Trump — who already appeared for questioning amid James’s probe but pleaded the Fifth Amendment — self-confidently ranted on Twitter about how the Trumps’ “team will be in front of a New York Judge outlining the blatantly unethical behavior of [Letitia James] the NY Attorney General,” adding: “There are 81 pages of videos, tweets & fundraising solicitations (some as recent as two weeks ago) in our lawsuit for the judge to see.” The argument is that comments from James opposing Trump mean that the investigation is founded in political bias… but actually, her personal opposition to the former president doesn’t automatically mean that there’s no basis for the probe.
BREAKING: A judge has ruled that former Pres. Donald Trump and his two children, Ivanka and Donald Jr., must testify in the investigation by the New York state attorney general. https://t.co/XcagPcrrso
— ABC News (@ABC) February 17, 2022