Donald, Ivanka and Donald Trump Jr. Subpoenaed By New York AG in Trump Organization Probe

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Former President Donald Trump, Donald Trump Jr. and Ivanka Trump were subpoenaed by the office of New York Attorney General Letitia James, which is investigating the business practices of the former president’s company.

James’ office said in a court filing Monday that it was seeking testimony and documents from the three named in the subpoena “in connection with the investigation into the valuation of assets owned or controlled” by the Trump Organization.

News came out last month that the attorney general was seeking Donald Trump to testify, but it wasn’t confirmed until Monday that James ’office was also seeking information from his two eldest sons in the investigation.

The former president filed a lawsuit in federal court last month seeking to stop the investigation after James asked him to participate in a deposition on Jan. 7.

The lawsuit alleges that the investigation violated his constitutional rights and denounced the inquiry as a “thinly veiled effort to publicly discredit Trump and his colleagues.” Trumps are expected to try to dismiss the subpoenas.

Former President Donald Trump, Donald Trump Jr. and Ivanka Trump were subpoenaed Monday by New York Attorney General Letitia James’s office, which is investigating the Trump Organization’s business practices. Above, the former president spoke at a rally on September 25, 2021, in Perry, Georgia. Sean Rayford/Getty Images

Messages seeking comment were left with lawyers for Trump and James ’office.

The court filing Monday was the first public recognition by the attorney general’s office that it had previously subpoenaed Trump’s testimony.

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.

James’ investigators last year interviewed one of Trump’s sons, Trump Organization executive Eric Trump, as part of the probe. James’ office went to court to enforce a subpoena on the younger Trump and a judge forced him to testify after his lawyers abruptly canceled a scheduled deposit.

Although the civil investigation is separate from a criminal investigation run by the Manhattan district attorney’s office, James ’office is involved in both. Earlier in 2021, 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.

Before he left office at the end of last year, Vance convened a new grand jury to hear the evidence as he weighed in on whether to seek more investigative charges, which resulted in tax fraud charges in July against Trump. Organization and longtime CFO Allen Weisselberg.

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

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 Trump’s property north of Manhattan, Seven Springs, 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. His office also won a series of court decisions forcing Trump’s company and a law firm it hired to turn over the records.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Update 1/3/22, 1:53 pm ET: This article has been updated with more information.

News broke last month that New York Attorney General Letitia James was seeking to testify former President Donald Trump, but it was not confirmed until Monday that James ’office was also seeking information from his two eldest children in the investigation. Above (from left) Donald Trump Jr., Ivanka Trump and Eric Trump listen to their father at a press conference at the Foreign and Commonwealth office in London on June 4, 2019, on the second day of their three -day state visit to UK Mandel Ngan/AFP via Getty Images

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