Trump says he won’t answer questions in NY fraud deposition

After appearing on Wednesday (10) to testify in a case that investigates alleged tax maneuvers by his companies, former US President Donald Trump said he will refuse to answer questions posed by the New York Attorney General.

The Republican claimed to be enjoying the rights provided for in the US Constitution, in reference to the Fifth Amendment, which guarantees the right to remain silent and avoid self-incrimination.

“When your family, your company and everyone around you becomes the target of a politically motivated witch hunt, supported by lawyers, prosecutors and the media, you have no choice,” he said in a statement released shortly after the start of the talks. questions.

The civil investigation in question investigates whether the Trump Organization inflated the values ​​of some properties to obtain more advantageous loans and lowered their values ​​to obtain tax exemptions.

Trump for months tried to avoid appearing to testify. In a message on Tuesday night (9) on the Truth Social app, which he created, however, he said he would be with Attorney General Letitia James.

James, a Democrat, even announced last year that he would run for governor of New York, an episode that fueled criticism of the former president. Shortly after, however, she withdrew from the electoral race and said she still had a lot to do in the prosecutor’s office.

The appearance before the New York Attorney General’s Office comes just two days after a setback for the Republican, when the FBI, the US federal police, carried out a search operation of his home in Mar-a-Lago, in a case that investigates the illegal removal and destruction of White House files by the former president.

These, however, are just some of the cases involving Trump as a key character. The actions of the Trump Organizations themselves, in addition to the civil sphere, are investigated in the criminal sphere in the criminal sphere of the District of Manhattan. Other ongoing lawsuits still concern the invasion of the Capitol, the seat of the US Legislature, and the attempt to tamper with election results in Georgia.

Trump denies all the allegations and says he is the target of political persecution. In the recent statement, he returned to the matter: “If there was any doubt, the raid on my home, Mar-a-Lago, just two days before my testimony, proved that many prosecutors in this country have lost all moral and ethical boundaries.”

He continued: “I didn’t do anything wrong, which is why, after five years of searching, they found nothing.” The New York testimony is not open to the public and, until information shared by the Republican on the internet, had not been formally announced by Letitia James’ office.