Former President Donald Trump and two of his adult children filed an appeal on Monday, arguing that they should not be forced to take depositions by New York Attorney General Letitia James.
The Trumps contended that if James wants them to testify she should take them before a state grand jury, which can grant witnesses protection.
Trump Family Believes Jury Can Make Interference
The appeal is part of the Trump family's effort to overturn a lower court ruling last month that ordered the former president and his two eldest children, Ivanka Trump and Donald Trump Jr., to sit for a deposition as part of James' investigation into the Trump Organization's alleged fraudulent dealings.
A separate joint criminal investigation by James and the Manhattan District Attorney's Office is looking into whether Trump dropped property values on tax forms then raised them to make them look better to financial lenders.
Late last month, Trump's lawyers filed a notice with the state appellate court, requesting a review of Judge Arthur Engoron's decision that the former president and his two eldest children sit for depositions with the attorney general's office.
Trump has called the investigation a politically motivated witch hunt and has filed a federal lawsuit seeking a halt to the investigation, The Hill reported.
In February, a state judge denied the Trumps' motion, stating that they might exercise their Fifth Amendment protection against self-incrimination and decline to answer questions, as Eric Trump did during his deposition in 2020. Per CNN, attorneys for the Trump family contended that if the Trumps refused to answer questions in depositions a jury could make an "adverse inference."
Trumps Question Letitia James' "Inappropriate Statements"
Judge Arthur Engoron of the New York Supreme Court had ordered the Trumps to attend for depositions by March 10, but the former President and his children reached an agreement to postpone their appearances until the outcome of an appeal.
In January, James said her office's civil investigation had uncovered significant evidence that the Trump Organization used "fraudulent or misleading asset valuations to obtain a host of economic benefits, including loans, insurance coverage, and tax deductions," and that financial statements contained numerous "misleading statements and omissions."
The former President and his firm have been the subject of a parallel criminal investigation by the Manhattan district attorney's office, which is looking into whether they misled lenders, insurers, and others by giving false or misleading financial statements about property valuations.
However, the inquiry has come to a halt, with two top lawyers resigning earlier this month when Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg stated that he would not authorize an indictment against the former President.
The Trump lawyers also want the appeals court to overturn Engoron's ruling and hold a hearing on the "scope and amount of coordination" between the Manhattan district attorney's office and the attorney general's office.
The Trumps' lawyers noted that the criminal investigation by the Manhattan district attorney's office, like the attorney general's probe, is focused on the valuations and evaluations of Trump's properties in financial statements to taxing authorities and financial institutions.
"Coordination between simultaneous civil and criminal proceedings is routine procedure," according to a filing from the attorney general's office in January.
In their appeal, attorneys for the Trumps described James' public statements about Donald Trump as "an exceptional and unprecedented bombardment of inappropriate public statements" since she sought office in 2018, promising to investigate and prosecute Trump and others close to him. The appeal claims that Engoron's ruling missed James' words, claiming that they reflect "extreme animus" on James' behalf and that they can't be overlooked, as per News Press Now.
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