Donald J. Trump and two of his adult children have agreed to be sworn in in mid-July by attorneys for the New York State Attorney General’s Office, unless the state’s top court intervenes.
The agreement, filed Wednesday in the New York State Supreme Court, says Mr. Trump, Donald Trump Jr. and Ivanka Trump have agreed to appear to declare that it will begin on Friday, July 15 and end the following week.
The interrogation will come when State Attorney General Letitia James concludes the final phase of her investigation into Mr. Trump and the business practices of his company, The Trump Organization. The deal follows a series of legal setbacks for the former president, whose lawyers had been fighting for months with the attorney general’s office, hoping to avoid being questioned.
Wednesday’s deal came two weeks after a state appeals court decided to allow interrogation. The court rejected the arguments of Mr. Trump that Ms. Civil’s investigation. James had political motives and should be barred from questioning Mr. Trump was under oath while also under criminal investigation for some of the same business practices.
Alina Habba, Mr. Trump said shortly after the ruling that he would appeal the case to the Court of Appeals. It is unclear whether the court will agree to hear the case, but if it does, all three members of the Trump family may still be hoping to avoid interviews.
Another of Mr.’s adult children. Trump, Eric Trump, was questioned under oath in October 2020 and invoked his right against self-incrimination in response to more than 500 questions. Although Mr. Trump and the two children could refuse to answer questions for the same reason, doing so could hurt them in Ms. James. In a criminal case, jurors cannot infer anything from a defendant’s refusal to testify, but this is not true for civil cases.
The research of Ms. James started in March 2019 and has focused on whether Mr. Trump has systematically misrepresented the value of his assets for financial gain with lenders and tax authorities. Because the investigation is civil, Ms. James cannot file criminal charges, but she can file a lawsuit. A lawyer in his office noted in April that such a presentation could take place in the near future.
The lawyers in Ms.’s office. James is also involved in a criminal investigation led by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin L. Bragg. This investigation had led to an indictment before Mr. Bragg and some of his top aides were concerned about the strength of the case.
In the civil investigation, Mr. Trump was convicted in court in April by a state court judge, Arthur F. Engoron, and sentenced him to pay $ 10,000 a day until his lawyers filed a lawsuit. series of documents requested by the Attorney General. The following month, Judge Engoron lifted the fine out of contempt, but set conditions and said he would reinstate that sanction if Mr. Trump did not comply.
After a hearing with Mr. Trump and Mrs. James on Wednesday, the judge said he would leave the order in force – without a fine attached – and gave Mr. Trump has a deadline until next Friday to file information about Trump. Organization document retention policies.
In a recent live podcast on “Pod Save America,” Ms. James said that Mr. Trump was “caught” using “funny numbers in his financial documents.” He also said that “it would allow him to exhaust his appeal.”
Mr. Trump has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing and referred to Ms. James’ investigation as a witch hunt and the Attorney General as a radical left “racist.”