Trump Says He Took Fifth Amendment in N.Y. Attorney General Fraud Probe
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Former president Trump announced Wednesday that he invoked the Fifth Amendment and refused to answer questions in New York attorney general Letitia James’ civil investigation into his family’s real-estate holdings.
“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,” Trump said in a statement. “I once asked, ‘If you’re innocent, why are you taking the Fifth Amendment?’ Now I know the answer to that question.”
Trump arrived at James’s office Wednesday morning to be deposed after his children Ivanka Trump and Don Jr. sat down with James’s team earlier this month.
James has been conducting a probe of the Trump Organization to decipher whether Trump and his company committed financial fraud by overvaluing assets in its property portfolio, specifically an estate in Westchester, N.Y., a skyscraper at 40 Wall Street, and a Trump Tower residence in Manhattan, in order to receive loans and tax relief.
“My great company, and myself, are being attacked from all sides,” Trump wrote beforehand on Truth Social, the social media platform he founded. “Banana Republic!”
Trump’s Fifth Amendment appeal comes after his Florida residence, Mar-a-Lago, was searched by the FBI Monday as part of a separate investigation into allegations that he mishandled classified documents.
In April, Trump was held in civil contempt of court by a New York judge for failing to respond to a subpoena issued by James’ office in declining to submit some request materials by the March 31 deadline.
In May, James announced that her office had compiled substantial evidence that Trump and his organization committed fraud and that the investigation was drawing to a close.
There is a parallel criminal probe underway, led by Manhattan district attorney Alvin Bragg, which was opened last year based on evidence gathered by James’s team.
Bragg has said he is closely following James’s civil investigation and could incorporate further evidence gathered by her team. Trump’s attorneys will be in court on Friday trying to have the criminal case dismissed.
