New York Attorney General Leticia James Asks State Court of Appeals to Execute Donald Trump’s Order in Court

NEW YORK – The New York Attorney General is asking the state appeals court to uphold a lower court ruling requiring former President Donald Trump to answer sworn questions after a civil investigation into his business practices uncovered evidence that he may have , the value of assets was wrong. both golf courses and skyscrapers have been in the financial statements for more than a decade.

In documents filed late Monday, the Office of Attorney General Leticia James said she had every right to question Trump, who is appealing the lower court’s decision as it seeks to determine whether the fake values ​​shown by creditors, tax authorities and others are false. business interests, fraud. and, if so, who committed the fraud.

James also seeks to uphold a ruling that forces Trump’s two eldest children, Ivanka and Donald Trump Jr., to testify. They were both heads of their father’s company, the Trump Organization.

“The evidence gathered to date suggests that the financial statements, tax materials, loan guarantees and other documents contain significant misstatements and omissions,” said court documents from James’ office. “These distortions appear to have been aimed at showing Mr. Trump’s net worth and liquidity above the real facts, to provide economic benefits to which Mr. Trump would not otherwise be entitled.”

In appeals filed on March 21, Trump’s lawyers argued that lower court judge Arthur Engaran had failed to properly weigh the constitutional and ethical concerns of James’ investigation.

In its response, James’ office rejected Trump’s argument that the attorney general, a Democrat, had political revenge against Trump, a Republican, or that Trump’s requirement to testify under oath would violate their constitutional rights because their answers could be used against their parallel investigation. criminal case.

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While maintaining the subpoenas will require Trump to sit in for questioning, they cannot be forced to provide information that could be used against them in a future criminal case, James ’office said, and they are free to exercise their right against the Fifth Amendment. -Incrimination – as did Trump’s other son, Eric Trump, more than 500 times during his testimony in 2020 as part of a civil investigation.

Trump’s lawyers want the state court’s appeals department to overturn Engoron’s February 17 ruling and invalidate James’ summons to testify. The Trump and James office agreed to suspend the summons during the appeals process. Court documents indicate that the appellate court is likely to consider the arguments in May or June.

On Monday, in this regard, Engoron ordered weekly progress reports from a digital forensics company that the Trump Organization hired to present evidence to James’ office, raising concerns that the process was slower than expected. The company must submit all requested evidence by April 22, the judge said.

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