NY attorney general to request Trump's testimony in civil probe
New York鈥檚 attorney general is seeking former President Donald Trump鈥檚 testimony in an ongoing investigation into his business practices, a person familiar with the matter said.
Attorney General Letitia James鈥� office has requested that Trump sit for a deposition on Jan. 7, according to the person, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the ongoing investigation.
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Trump鈥檚 representatives did not immediately respond to requests for comment. A message seeking comment was left with Trump鈥檚 lawyer, Ronald Fischetti. James鈥� office declined to comment.
In the past, the Republican former president has decried the investigation as part of a 鈥渨itch hunt.鈥�
James, a Democrat who recently suspended her campaign for governor to focus on her role as attorney general, has spent more than two years looking at whether Trump鈥檚 company, the Trump Organization, 鈥� inflating them to gain favorable loan terms or minimizing them to reap tax savings.
Requesting Trump鈥檚 testimony is the first step in a process that could eventually lead to issuing a subpoena and going to a judge to order him to cooperate if he were to refuse.
James鈥� investigators last year interviewed one of Trump鈥檚 sons, Trump Organization executive Eric Trump, as part of the probe. James鈥� office went to court to enforce a subpoena on the younger Trump and after his lawyers abruptly canceled a previously scheduled deposition.
The civil investigation is separate from a criminal investigation into Trump鈥檚 business practices being led by Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr., who gained access to the longtime real estate mogul's tax records after a multi-year fight that twice went to the U.S. Supreme Court.
Vance, who is leaving office at the end of the year, to hear evidence as he weighs whether to seek more indictments in the case, which resulted in tax fraud charges in July against the Trump Organization and its longtime CFO Allen Weisselberg.
alleging he and the company cheated tax authorities with lucrative, untaxed fringe benefits. He is due back in court next July.
Asked about the status of the criminal probe, Vance said last week: 鈥淚 think it鈥檚 pretty clear that our investigation is active and ongoing.鈥�
James鈥� office is involved in Vance鈥檚 criminal probe while also conducting its own civil investigation.
Both investigations are at least partly related to allegations made in news reports and by Trump鈥檚 former personal lawyer, Michael Cohen, that Trump had a history of misrepresenting the value of assets.
James鈥� office issued subpoenas to local governments as part of the civil probe for records pertaining to and a tax benefit Trump received for placing land into a conservation trust. Vance later issued subpoenas seeking many of the same records.
James鈥� office has also been looking at similar issues relating to a Trump office building in New York City, a hotel in Chicago and a golf course near Los Angeles. Her office also won a series of court rulings forcing Trump鈥檚 company and a law firm it hired to turn over troves of records.
In October, Trump testified under oath behind closed doors for several hours during a deposition in a lawsuit brought by protesters who say his security team roughed them up in the early days of his presidential campaign in 2015.
Trump had faced a Dec. 23 deadline for questioning in former 鈥淎pprentice鈥� contestant Summer Zervos鈥� defamation lawsuit against him, but .
Trump was less cooperative with special counsel Robert Mueller鈥檚 probe of Russian election interference.
Mueller鈥檚 team of investigators sought an interview with Trump for months and though Trump, at times, stated publicly that he was willing to sit down with them, his lawyers long resisted the overture.
Instead, Trump鈥檚 lawyers in November 2018 submitted written responses on certain topics that Mueller鈥檚 team regarded as 鈥渋nadequate.鈥� Prosecutors in that matter decided against subpoenaing Trump to compel his testimony.
