Donald Trump, Ivanka, Don Jr. were subpoenaed by the NY attorney general

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NEW YORK (AP)-New York Attorney General Letitia James recently subpoenaed former President Donald Trump and his two oldest children, demanding their testimony in connection with the ongoing civil investigation into the family’s business practices. , according to a court filing made public on Monday.

The subpoenas for Trump, his son Donald Trump Jr., and his daughter, Ivanka Trump, stem from an investigation “into the valuation of assets owned or controlled” by Trump and his company, the Trump Organization, said the confrontation.

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

The attorney general’s attempt to take testimony from the former president was reported in December, but Monday’s court filing was the first public disclosure that investigators were also seeking information from Ivanka Trump and Donald Trump Jr.

Trumps are expected to file court papers aimed at overturning the subpoenas, setting up a legal battle similar to the one that took place last year after James ’office subpoenaed another of Trump’s sons .

Trump sued James last month, seeking to end the investigation after he asked him to sit for a deposition on Jan. 7. Trump’s lawsuit, filed in federal court, alleges the investigation violated his constitutional rights in a “thin -cover effort to publicly destroy Trump and his colleagues.”

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 this 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.

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 indictments in the investigation, which resulted in tax fraud charges in July against Trump. Organization and its 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.

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