New York AG subpoenas Donald Trump and kids
January 3, 2022
New York's attorney general issued subpoenas to former US President Donald Trump and his two eldest children on Monday.
Attorney General Letitia James' office said in the filing that it is seeking testimony and documents from Trump, Donald Trump Jr. and Ivanka Trump "in connection with an investigation into the valuation of properties owned or controlled'' by the former president and his company, the Trump Organization.
The subpoenas come amid an ongoing criminal investigation into the organization and its executives and whether they manipulated the value of some of its assets.
The investigation into Trump's business affairs
James has spent more than two years looking into whether the Trump Organization deceived banks or tax officials regarding the value of the group's assets, increasing them to gain favorable loan terms or diminishing them to enjoy tax benefits.
The attorney general's efforts to get testimony from Trump were first reported in December, but the court filing Monday was the first public acknowledgement that investigators were also seeking information from his two eldest children.
Lawyers for the Trumps filed court papers late on Monday seeking to block the subpoenas, calling them "an unprecedented and unconstitutional maneuver" and accusing James of trying to obtain testimony that could be used against the Trumps in a parallel criminal investigation.
According to Trump's legal team, James "seeks to circumvent the entire grand jury process" and nullify the Trump's rights by forcing them to testify without the immunity that would be guaranteed if they were subpoenaed to testify in front of the grand jury in the criminal probe.
"Despite their names, they must play by the same rules as everyone else," Attorney General James said after the Trumps' move to block the subpoenas. "These delay tactics will not stop us from following the facts or the law, which is why we will be asking the court to compel Donald Trump, Donald Trump Jr., and Ivanka Trump to testify with our office under oath."
Trump instigated legal proceedings against James on December 20, seeking to end the investigation after she called for him to sit for a deposition on January 7.
jsi/rt (AP, Reuters)