Trump, his children subpoenaed by New York attorney general in family business investigation

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The New York attorney general’s office confirmed for the first time on Monday that it is subpoenaing former U.S. president Donald Trump and his two eldest children, Ivanka and Donald Trump Jr., requesting their testimony in an investigation into family business practices.

In a court filing, Attorney General Letitia James’s attorneys said they were looking for Trump’s testimony and documents as part of a year-long civil investigation involving matters including “examination of assets that owned or controlled ”by Trump and his company.

Monday’s filing was the first public disclosure that investigators examining the former president’s dealings were also seeking information from Ivanka Trump and Donald Trump Jr., both trusted allies of their father who became executives at the Trump Organization. of his family.

Last month, James ’office reportedly asked Trump to sit down for a deposition.

James, a Democrat, spent more than two years checking to see if the Trump Organization had deceived banks or tax officials about the value of assets – raising them to get favorable loan terms or downsize them to reap tax savings.

New York State Attorney General Letitia James spoke at a news conference in New York City in August 2021. (Ted Shaffrey/The Associated Press)

Trumps have indicated they will fight subpoenas and are expected to file papers in court through their lawyers seeking to dispose of them. A similar legal battle took place last year after James ’office subpoenaed the testimony of another Trump son, Eric Trump.

Trump sued James in federal court last month, seeking to end his investigation. Trump, in the lawsuit, claimed that James violated his constitutional rights in a “thin-cover effort to publicly destroy Trump and his colleagues.”

A state court judge who handled past disputes arising from the investigation agreed Monday to entertain arguments with subpoenas, also asking for documents from Trumps in addition to their testimony.

Messages seeking comment were left Monday with Trump lawyers and the Trump Organization. A message seeking comment was also left in the attorney general’s office.

Hot legal battle

Previously, the Republican ex-president decried James’ investigation as part of a “witch hunt” along with a parallel criminal probe run by the Manhattan district attorney’s office.

James’ office went to court last year to enforce the subpoena on Eric Trump, an executive of the Trump Organization, and a judge forced him to testify after his lawyers abruptly canceled a scheduled deposition.

The same judge, Arthur Engoron, has previously decided to enforce subpoenas arising from the Trump investigation, including forcing Trump’s company and a law firm it hired to return troves of records related to a property owned by Trump north of Manhattan.

Eric Trump speaks at a rally in Washington in January 2021. (Jacquelyn Martin/The Associated Press)

Although the civil investigation is separate from the district attorney’s criminal investigation, James ’office is involved in both.

Last year, former district attorney Cyrus Vance Jr. had access. on the tax records of the longtime real estate mogul after years of battles that have twice gone to the U.S. Supreme Court. He also brought tax fraud charges in July against the Trump Organization and its longtime CFO Allen Weisselberg.

Before he left office last week, Vance convened a new grand jury to hear the evidence as he weighed in on whether to seek further charges in the investigation, but left the decision on additional charges to his successor, Alvin Bragg. The new district attorney said he was directly involved in the Trump case while also retaining the two veteran prosecutors who led the case under Vance.

Cyrus R. Vance, Jr., former Manhattan district attorney, appeared in May 2018. (Frank Franklin II/The Associated Press)

Weisselberg is not guilty of allegations that he and the company evaded taxes on beneficial benefits paid to executives.

It is rare for law enforcement agencies to issue a civil subpoena for testimony from a person who is also the subject of a relevant criminal investigation.

That’s partly because the person under criminal investigation can only mention their Fifth Amendment right to remain silent. Trump’s lawyers are unlikely to allow him to be fired unless they are sure his testimony will not be used against him in a criminal case.

Both investigations are at least partly related to allegations made in news reports and by Trump’s former personal attorney, Michael Cohen, that Trump has a history of misrepresentation of the value of assets.

James ’office issued subpoenas to local governments as part of the civil investigation for records related to Seven Springs, Trump’s property north of Manhattan, and a tax benefit Trump received for placing land in a conservation trust. Vance later issued subpoenas seeking many of the same records.

James ’office is also looking into similar issues related to a Trump office building in New York City, a hotel in Chicago and a golf course near Los Angeles.

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