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Trump must answer sworn questions in New York AG, appeals court says

Former President Donald Trump

Carlos Barria | Reuters

An appeals court on Thursday rejected a proposal by the former President Donald Trump and his two adult children to avoid being forced by investigators to answer questions to New York Attorney General Letitia James as part of her civil investigation into Foundation business practices. Trump.

The decision is Latest legal losses for Trump in its effort to limit the investigation of James, who focused on allegations that the Trump Organization illegally manipulated stated valuation of various real estate properties for financial gain.

In addition to Trump, his son Donald Trump Jr. and daughter Ivanka Trump must comply with a subpoena issued by James seeking their testimony, according to a four-page order issued by a panel of judges in the Appeals Division of the U.S. Supreme Court’s First Department of Justice. Manhattan high.

The ruling rejected arguments made by Trump’s attorneys at a hearing earlier this month that James should be barred from interviewing him and his children because she is also working with the U.S. Attorney’s Office. Manhattan District Attorney for a criminal investigation into the Trump Organization.

Donald Trump Jr currently runs the Trump family business with his brother Eric Trump, who has previously answered questions to which James’ investigators were sworn in. Ivanka Trump, who served as a senior White House adviser during her father’s presidency, is a former senior Trump Organization executive.

“Once again, the courts have ruled that Donald Trump must comply with our lawful investigation of his financial dealings,” James said in a statement about the appeals court’s ruling.

“We will continue to monitor the circumstances of this case and make sure that no one is able to escape the law,” the attorney general said.

Alina Habba, Trump’s attorney, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Decision upheld February 28, 2022, ruled by Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Arthur Engoron that ordered the Trumps to submit the terms.

“In the final analysis, the State Attorney General began investigating a business entity, discovered evidence of possible financial fraud, and wanted to question several principals of the entity. , including its name. She has the express right to do so,” Engoron wrote at the time.

In its decision Thursday, the appeals panel said, “The existence of a criminal investigation does not preclude civil discovery of the relevant circumstances.”

The ruling noted that Trumps at depository offices could invoke their constitutional right against self-incrimination when refusing to answer questions.

The appeals panel also said that Engoron “validly refused” a request from Trump’s parties to hold “an evidence hearing on the scope and extent” of coordination between James’s office and that of Manhattan. SKIN.

“The civil investigation was commenced in March 2019 following testimony before Congress by Michael Cohen, a former senior executive and special adviser to the Trump Organization, in which Cohen alleges that
defendant The Trump Organization, Inc. issued fraudulent financial statements,” the ruling noted.

“This sequence of events shows that the investigation was legitimately initiated from the start
and has basis, in addition to any parallel criminal investigation conducted by the District Attorney. “

And the panel said there was no reason to issue a subpoena based on Republican Trump’s claim that the investigation of James, a Democrat, was motivated by political hatred.

James “initiated the investigation after public testimony from a senior company insider and reviewed a substantial volume of evidence before issuing a subpoena,” the ruling said.

“Appellants have not identified any similarly related companies that were not investigated or that any executives of such a company were not removed from office.”

“Therefore, the appellants failed to demonstrate that they were treated differently from any person of similar status.”

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