President Donald Trump has told New York’s Democrat Attorney General Letitia James to go pound sand and is refusing to answer any of her questions today after being deposed.
Instead, Trump is taking the Fifth.
He issued a statement that said he will not comply with the AG’s “politically motivated Witch Hunt” investigations.
“I once asked, ‘If you’re innocent, why are you taking the Fifth Amendment?’” Trump explained.
“Now I know the answer to that question.
“When your family, your company, and all the people in your orbit have become the targets of an unfounded, politically motivated Witch Hunt supported by lawyers, prosecutors, and the Fake News Media, you have no choice.
“Accordingly, under the advice of my counsel and for all of the above reasons, I declined to answer the questions under the rights and privileges afforded to every citizen under the United States Constitution.
“I did nothing wrong, which is why, after five years of looking, the Federal, State, and local governments, together with the Fake News Media, have found nothing.
“We cannot permit a renegade and out-of-control prosecutor to use this investigation as a means of advancing her political career.
“New York deserves better, and this Country deserves better.
“This is a vindictive and self-serving fishing expedition, the likes of which our Country has never seen before.
“What Letitia James has tried to do the last three years is a disgrace to the legal system, an affront to New York State taxpayers, and a violation of the solemn rights and protections afforded by the United States Constitution.”
According to CNBC:
Trump left his residence at Trump Tower in Midtown Manhattan on Wednesday morning to travel to James’ office downtown for his own deposition.
Neither Donald Trump Jr. nor his sister Ivanka Trump invoked their Fifth Amendment right when they were questioned last week by James’ investigators, NBC has previously reported. However, Eric Trump, who runs the Trump Organization with Donald Jr., invoked his Fifth Amendment right more than 500 times when he was questioned under oath in the probe in October 2020, according to a court filing from January.
From Fox News:
Meanwhile, simultaneously, the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office is conducting a criminal investigation into the Trump Organization’s financial dealings.
That investigation was launched by former Manhattan DA Cyrus Vance in 2019 and was focused on possible bank, insurance and tax fraud.
The case involved financial dealings of Trump’s Manhattan properties, including his flagship Fifth Avenue building, Trump Tower, and the valuation of his 213-acre estate Seven Springs in Westchester.
Earlier this year, the new Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg stopped pursuing charges against former President Trump and suspended the investigation “indefinitely,” one of the top prosecutors who resigned from the office said in his resignation letter–but disagreed with the decision.
