Former President Trump is appealing against a New York judge’s order that he and his two eldest children testify as part of a civil investigation into his business practices on Monday.
Trump’s attorneys, Don Jr. and Ivanka, filed for review by the U.S. Court of Appeals after Judge Arthur Engoren forced them to testify in a Feb. 17 ruling. The ruling gives Trump 21 days to appear, and the complaint is likely to support the battle for the former president’s testimony for months.
Lawyers say Trump’s order to testify violates their constitutional rights, as anything Trump says in civil testimony can be used against him in the criminal investigation overseen by the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office.
At a hearing before Engoron’s ruling, Trump’s lawyers argued that sitting him on civil testimony was a misguided attempt to circumvent a U.S. law banning prosecutors from summoning someone to testify before a grand jury without granting them immunity.
A federal judge has ruled that former President Donald Trump, Donald Trump Jr. and Ivanka Trump must testify in a civil fraud case.
Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Arthur Engoren has ruled that Trump, Don Jr. and Ivana must appear within 21 days
A lawyer from the Attorney General’s Office told Engoron that it is not uncommon for civil and criminal investigations to be conducted simultaneously, and Engoron rejected Trump’s lawyers’ request to suspend the civil investigation until the criminal case is over.
Last summer, prompted by evidence uncovered in James’ civil investigation, the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office accused Weiselberg and the Trump Organization of tax fraud, claiming he had collected more than $ 1.7 million in unregistered damages. Weisselberg and the company pleaded not guilty. The future of the criminal investigation was called into question last week when the two prosecutors leading it abruptly left.
New York AG Leticia James claims that everyone has vital information about Trump’s business relationships and assets. She has already accused Trump of raising the estimates of financial statements when looking for a loan.
Trump is no stranger to testimony – he answered questions for 4 1/2 hours last year in a lawsuit filed by men who claim to have been attacked by security guards at Trump Tower.
His other adult son, Eric Trump, has previously testified in civil cases and repeatedly invoked the rights of the Fifth Amendment – more than 500 times, according to documents from James’ office.
Don Jr. and Eric ran the Trump organization along with already-accused CEO Alan Weisselberg while Trump was president.
The decision comes after a bomb was dropped on Monday, revealing that Trump’s longtime accounting firm Mazars USA has left and cannot rely on 10-year financial statements.
Although undoubtedly useful to prosecutors, James has already been able to obtain a wealth of information through summonses and interviews with other company employees.
She was able to obtain a wealth of tax and financial information from Trump’s longtime accounting firm, Mazars, following a lawsuit that went to the Supreme Court.
The decision was made the day James, who is about to be re-elected, took a triumphant tour of the Manhattan Democratic Party Congress, blowing up former Gov. Andrew Cuomo and promising not to be “harassed.”
“Today, justice prevails,” James said in a statement. “Donald 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 transactions. No one will have the right to stand in the way of the pursuit of justice, no matter how strong it is. No one is above the law, “she added.
This week, Trump accused James of “vicious intimidation tactics” against his longtime firm after Mazars said he could no longer rely on the financial statements for a decade she had worked for him and announced she was ending her relationship with the company. .
Ivanka Trump had the option to buy an apartment on Park Avenue, rented to her by her father’s company for $ 8.5 million, according to a court order for testimony filed by the AG office. But the company said it was worth up to $ 25 million in financial statements
Ivanka was able to buy the apartment on Park Avenue for $ 8.5 million, according to a court order to seek testimony from the AG office after renting it out on “extremely favorable terms.” Ivanka is seen in the apartment with two of her children
Trump said they were “essentially forced to give up a great long-term bill because of the prosecutor’s misconduct.”
In his statement, Trump continued to provide dollar figures for cash and marketable securities, escrow, reserve deposits and other categories that he said led to net value of $ 5.8 billion.
Earlier on Thursday, Trump’s lawyer, Alina Haba, used a hearing in a case of alleged fraud by the former president to accuse District Attorney Leticia James of harassing him, “probably because he could win again in ’24.”
A lawyer from Badminster, New Jersey, also took the opportunity to accuse Trump’s 2016 rival, Hillary Clinton, of “spying” on his campaign.
Guiding Trump’s tone in his frequent online statements and his demands to investigate his investigators, she told James and another attorney at the state AG office: “I want to know … will you prosecute Hillary Clinton for what she is doing to me customer?
The Trump family’s lawyers asked the appeals court on Monday to consider three issues:
– whether James’ office violated their rights by issuing subpoenas for their testimony while participating in the criminal investigation;
– whether the protection of witnesses of the Grand Jury under state law, as immunity, can be eroded if the same agency involved in the criminal investigation simply launches a “civil” investigation on the same issues “;
– and whether Engoron was wrong to reject Trump’s claim that James was involved in selective prosecution.
In his ruling, Engoron said the thousands of pages of evidence he had reviewed the case showed that there was good reason to continue the investigation and undermined “the notion that this ongoing investigation is based on personal animosity, not facts and law.” ‘