Former President Donald Trump is seen gesturing as he departs Trump Tower in New York on Thursday, April 13, 2023. He is expected to make a visit to the offices of New York's Attorney General for his second deposition in a legal dispute concerning his company.
On Thursday, former US President Donald Trump spent several hours at the offices of the New York attorney general for his second deposition in a legal dispute regarding his company's business practices. This time, instead of invoking his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination, his lawyer indicated that he was answering questions.
Shortly after Mr. Trump entered the Manhattan skyscraper, his attorney Alina Habba issued a statement saying, "President Trump is not only willing but also eager to testify before the Attorney General today."
He is eagerly anticipating informing the Attorney General about the tremendous accomplishments of his multibillion-dollar enterprise.
Donald Trump's attorney Alina Habba
The ex-president met with lawyers representing Attorney General Letitia James, who filed a lawsuit against Mr. Trump in the previous year. He remains firm in his belief that he has nothing to hide and eagerly anticipates informing the Attorney General about the tremendous accomplishments of his multi-billion dollar company.
In her legal action, she alleges that Mr. Trump and his family provided inaccurate information about his net worth and the worth of properties such as hotels and golf courses, deceiving banks and business partners.
The lawsuit is separate from the criminal charges brought against Mr. Trump by the Manhattan district attorney, which resulted in his unprecedented arraignment last week as the first former president to face such charges.
On Thursday morning, Mr. Trump posted on social media, calling the lawsuit "ridiculous" and likening it to the other cases of election interference being brought against him. He raised his fist as he departed from Trump Tower and arrived at the Attorney General's office at approximately 9:42 a.m. Mr. Trump remained in the building for over five hours.
During a news conference on an unrelated topic on Wednesday, Ms James declined to respond to a question about the deposition. Earlier, on August 10th of last year, Mr. Trump had met with Ms James's lawyers, but had invoked his Fifth Amendment rights over 400 times and refused to answer most of the questions asked, limiting himself to answering only a few procedural ones.
At the time, Ms. James had not yet filed her lawsuit, and it was uncertain whether inquiries into the manner in which Mr. Trump valued his company would serve as the foundation for a criminal case.
During that deposition, which was captured on video and later made public, he stated, "Anyone in my position who doesn't invoke the Fifth Amendment would be foolish, absolutely foolish." Mr. Trump anticipated that a "rogue" prosecutor would attempt to use his responses to construct a criminal case if he were to provide them.
"If there is even a slight error or mistake in a statement or answer, such as describing a day as sunny and beautiful when it was actually slightly overcast, law enforcement intervention at an unprecedented level in this country would be expected, based on my personal experience," he said.
The situation has evolved since then. The criminal charges filed by the Manhattan district attorney centered around the way the company recorded payments made to attorney Michael Cohen, who was hired to prevent individuals from going public with stories about alleged extramarital affairs that former President Trump denied ever occurred.
The trial for the lawsuit brought by Ms. James is set for October, and if the case is not settled, video recordings of Mr. Trump's depositions could potentially be played during the trial. The deposition that took place on Thursday was conducted privately.
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