Former US President, Donald Trump has pled the 5th amendment after he was deposed by lawyers from New York Attorney General Letitia James’ office Wednesday, August 10.
Trump said Wednesday August 10, that he refused to answer questions from New York prosecutors led by James about his resort and real estate businesses.
“I declined to answer the questions under the rights and privileges afforded to every citizen under the United States Constitution,” Trump said in a statement, referring to the Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination.
“I once asked, ‘If you’re innocent, why are you taking the Fifth Amendment?’” Trump said.
“Now I know the answer to that question. When your family, your company, and all the people in your orbit have become the targets of an unfounded, politically motivated Witch Hunt supported by lawyers, prosecutors, and the Fake News Media, you have no choice.”
For more than three-years, New York Attorney General James has led an investigation into whether the Trump Organization misled lenders, insurers, and tax authorities by providing them misleading financial statements.
In January, James’ office said it found “significant” evidence indicating the Trump Organization used false or misleading asset valuations in its financial statements to obtain loans, insurance and tax benefits.
On Wednesday the ex-US commander-in-chief showed up at a parking garage in the lower Manhattan building where one of James’ offices is located just before 9 a.m., rolling up in one of several black SUVs that escorted him.
Trump said in an extended statement afterward that James “openly campaigned on the policy of ‘Get and Destroy Trump.’”
“James developed a political platform and made a career out of maliciously attacking me and my business before she was even elected, or reviewed one of the millions of pages of documents we willingly produced,” the ex-president said.
Trump added, “I did nothing wrong, which is why, after five years of looking, the Federal, State and local governments, together with the Fake News Media, have found nothing.”
Eric Trump, the former president’s son and a Trump Organization executive, defended his father on Truth Social.
“As my father sits for a deposition in front of the most corrupt New York Attorney General in the United States (Letitia James), I want to remind all all (sic) Americans EXACTLY who this evil woman is,” he wrote.
“The weaponization of the legal system – everything you are seeing – it is all a coordinated effort to stop what they know will happen in 2024.”
