TFG takes the 5th
Posted: Wed Aug 10, 2022 9:56 am
https://www.nytimes.com/live/2022/08/10 ... ation-news
The former president invoked his right against self-incrimination during a deposition that the New York attorney general’s office had hoped would be a turning point in a civil investigation into his business practices. It is one of several active investigations into Mr. Trump.
Ben Protess, Jonah E. Bromwich and William K. Rashbaum
Trump declines to answer questions in New York deposition, invoking his right against self-incrimination.
Donald J. Trump declined to answer questions from the New York state attorney general’s office on Wednesday, a surprising gamble in a high-stakes legal interview that is likely to determine the course of a civil investigation into his company’s business practices.
In a statement released shortly after the questioning began on Wednesday, Mr. Trump said he would invoke his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination, explaining that he “declined to answer the questions under the rights and privileges afforded to every citizen under the United States Constitution.”
After the deposition began, two sources with knowledge of the matter confirmed that he was refusing to answer questions, citing the Fifth Amendment.
Since March 2019, Attorney General Letitia James’s office has investigated whether Mr. Trump and his company improperly inflated the value of his hotels, golf clubs and other assets. Mr. Trump has long dismissed the inquiry from Ms. James, a Democrat, as a partisan “witch hunt.”
In his statement on Wednesday, he cast it as part of a grander conspiracy against him, linking it to the F.B.I. search at Mar-a-Lago, his home and private club in Palm Beach, Fla., on Monday.
“I once asked, ‘If you’re innocent, why are you taking the Fifth Amendment?’” he said in the statement. “Now I know the answer to that question.” He said that being targeted by lawyers, prosecutors and the news media had left him with “no choice.”
But there are other reasons Mr. Trump may have decided not to answer questions. While Ms. James’s inquiry is civil, and she cannot file criminal charges against the former president, the Manhattan district attorney’s office has been conducting a parallel criminal investigation into whether Mr. Trump fraudulently inflated valuations of his properties. Any misstep from the former president in his deposition could have breathed new life into that inquiry.
Mr. Trump had not been expected to invoke his constitutional right against self-incrimination. He has long considered himself his best spokesman, and those who had questioned him in the past, as well as some of his own advisers, believed he was unlikely to stay quiet.
His decision could have a significant impact on any trial if Ms. James’s investigation leads to a lawsuit. Jurors in civil matters can draw a negative inference when a defendant invokes his or her Fifth Amendment privilege, unlike in criminal cases, where exercising the right against self-incrimination cannot be held against the defendant.
Staying silent could also hurt Mr. Trump politically at a time when he is hinting that he will join the 2024 presidential race; it could raise questions about what he might be trying to hide.
Mr. Trump has ridiculed witnesses for invoking their Fifth Amendment rights, once remarking at a rally that, “You see the mob takes the Fifth,” and, “If you’re innocent, why are you taking the Fifth Amendment?”
But if he continues to decline questions throughout the day — as appears to be his plan — there is less chance that he will unwittingly aid the Manhattan district attorney’s investigation, which was nearing an indictment of the former president this year before losing momentum.
The district attorney, Alvin L. Bragg, had developed concerns about proving a case against Mr. Trump, but he has said that he is monitoring Ms. James’s investigation and planned to scrutinize Mr. Trump’s responses on Wednesday. The former president’s decision not to answer those questions may forestall new avenues in that investigation.
Mr. Trump is also contending with a litany of other inquiries. Along with the F.B.I. search at Mar-a-Lago, federal prosecutors are questioning witnesses about his involvement in efforts to reverse his election loss; a House select committee held a series of hearings tying him more closely to the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol; and a district attorney in Georgia is investigating potential election interference on the part of Mr. Trump and his allies.
Aug. 10, 2022, 11:36 a.m. ET20 minutes ago
20 minutes ago
Benjamin Protess
Trump is no stranger to facing questions under oath, having once boasted that he has sat for “over 100″ depositions.” And until now, he rarely passes up an opportunity to answer questions — or spar with his questioners. He once told a lawyer that her questions were “very stupid.” And one of the lawyers who questioned him said Trump is, “completely fearless in a deposition.”
The former president invoked his right against self-incrimination during a deposition that the New York attorney general’s office had hoped would be a turning point in a civil investigation into his business practices. It is one of several active investigations into Mr. Trump.
Ben Protess, Jonah E. Bromwich and William K. Rashbaum
Trump declines to answer questions in New York deposition, invoking his right against self-incrimination.
Donald J. Trump declined to answer questions from the New York state attorney general’s office on Wednesday, a surprising gamble in a high-stakes legal interview that is likely to determine the course of a civil investigation into his company’s business practices.
In a statement released shortly after the questioning began on Wednesday, Mr. Trump said he would invoke his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination, explaining that he “declined to answer the questions under the rights and privileges afforded to every citizen under the United States Constitution.”
After the deposition began, two sources with knowledge of the matter confirmed that he was refusing to answer questions, citing the Fifth Amendment.
Since March 2019, Attorney General Letitia James’s office has investigated whether Mr. Trump and his company improperly inflated the value of his hotels, golf clubs and other assets. Mr. Trump has long dismissed the inquiry from Ms. James, a Democrat, as a partisan “witch hunt.”
In his statement on Wednesday, he cast it as part of a grander conspiracy against him, linking it to the F.B.I. search at Mar-a-Lago, his home and private club in Palm Beach, Fla., on Monday.
“I once asked, ‘If you’re innocent, why are you taking the Fifth Amendment?’” he said in the statement. “Now I know the answer to that question.” He said that being targeted by lawyers, prosecutors and the news media had left him with “no choice.”
But there are other reasons Mr. Trump may have decided not to answer questions. While Ms. James’s inquiry is civil, and she cannot file criminal charges against the former president, the Manhattan district attorney’s office has been conducting a parallel criminal investigation into whether Mr. Trump fraudulently inflated valuations of his properties. Any misstep from the former president in his deposition could have breathed new life into that inquiry.
Mr. Trump had not been expected to invoke his constitutional right against self-incrimination. He has long considered himself his best spokesman, and those who had questioned him in the past, as well as some of his own advisers, believed he was unlikely to stay quiet.
His decision could have a significant impact on any trial if Ms. James’s investigation leads to a lawsuit. Jurors in civil matters can draw a negative inference when a defendant invokes his or her Fifth Amendment privilege, unlike in criminal cases, where exercising the right against self-incrimination cannot be held against the defendant.
Staying silent could also hurt Mr. Trump politically at a time when he is hinting that he will join the 2024 presidential race; it could raise questions about what he might be trying to hide.
Mr. Trump has ridiculed witnesses for invoking their Fifth Amendment rights, once remarking at a rally that, “You see the mob takes the Fifth,” and, “If you’re innocent, why are you taking the Fifth Amendment?”
But if he continues to decline questions throughout the day — as appears to be his plan — there is less chance that he will unwittingly aid the Manhattan district attorney’s investigation, which was nearing an indictment of the former president this year before losing momentum.
The district attorney, Alvin L. Bragg, had developed concerns about proving a case against Mr. Trump, but he has said that he is monitoring Ms. James’s investigation and planned to scrutinize Mr. Trump’s responses on Wednesday. The former president’s decision not to answer those questions may forestall new avenues in that investigation.
Mr. Trump is also contending with a litany of other inquiries. Along with the F.B.I. search at Mar-a-Lago, federal prosecutors are questioning witnesses about his involvement in efforts to reverse his election loss; a House select committee held a series of hearings tying him more closely to the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol; and a district attorney in Georgia is investigating potential election interference on the part of Mr. Trump and his allies.
Aug. 10, 2022, 11:36 a.m. ET20 minutes ago
20 minutes ago
Benjamin Protess
Trump is no stranger to facing questions under oath, having once boasted that he has sat for “over 100″ depositions.” And until now, he rarely passes up an opportunity to answer questions — or spar with his questioners. He once told a lawyer that her questions were “very stupid.” And one of the lawyers who questioned him said Trump is, “completely fearless in a deposition.”