Trump Seeks To Avoid Testifying in New York Investigation by Filing Appeal Against a Judge's Decision

Former United States President Donald Trump has filed an appeal against a judge's decision that he and his two eldest children were required to testify in New York state's civil investigation into his business practices.

The move was widely expected by parties involved in the probe and could potentially prolong the legal battle over his testimony by several months. Lawyers representing the Republican businessman and his two children filed the papers on Monday with the appellate division of the state's trial court.

Trump Files Appeal

The legal experts seek to overturn Manhattan Judge Arthur Engoron's ruling on Feb. 17, requiring the three Trumps to testify. The lawyers argued that the order requiring the defendants to testify violates their constitutional rights because their answers and statements could be used in a parallel criminal investigation.

Engoron set a Mar. 10 deadline for Trump and his two eldest children, Ivanka Trump and Don Jr., to sit for depositions in an eight-page ruling. The lawyers for the three asked the appellate court for a stay to the ruling to spare them from questioning while it considers the matter, as per The Guardian.

Trump's lawyers are fighting the legal battle amid the Republican businessman's consideration of a potential presidential run for the 2024 elections. The situation comes as two top prosecutors leading the investigation resigned last week amid talks over the strength of the criminal case against the former president.

A source familiar with the thinking of the former president said that Trump and his team would find it rather difficult to run for president while grappling with a criminal indictment. The businessman's legal team plans to litigate against New York Attorney General Letitia James' civil probe for as long as they can amid the possibility of charges fading in New York.

According to CNN, while the source said that the civil case was a critical barrier to Trump's candidacy, they looked at options for pleading the Fifth Amendment if the former president and his children are forced to appear for depositions.

Civil Probe Into Trump Organization

Trump accused Attorney General James of selectively prosecuting him because he was her political enemy, arguing that the investigation into his company was a political attack. In response to the appeal, James' office repeated its statement last Friday.

The statement said that while Trump and his children had the right to seek a delay, they were not able to deter the attorney general and her office from following the facts and the law wherever they may lead. James' office added that no one was above the law, not even a former president of the United States.

At the time of Engoron's ruling, Trump issued a statement decrying it as a "continuation of the greatest Witch Hunt in history-and remember, I can't get a fair hearing in New York because of the hatred of me by judges and the judiciary. It's not possible!"

James' civil probe has already run for nearly three years and focuses on whether the Trump Organization improperly valued its real estate properties to get better loans and lower tax bills. Despite the probe, none of the Trumps have been accused of criminal wrongdoing, Yahoo News reported.