Former President Donald Trump and his adult children must sit for a week of questioning under oath starting July 15 in the New York attorney general’s civil investigation into his business dealings, a judge ordered Wednesday.
The agreement between the Trumps and Attorney General Letitia James came after an appeals court rejected the Trumps’ effort to avoid sitting for depositions in the years-long probe.
For almost three years, James’ office has investigated allegations the Trump Organization distorted property values for favorable loans and tax breaks. James’ office says the probe could soon result in an “enforcement action.”
Meanwhile, lawyers for the AG and the Trumps continued to fight during a Manhattan Supreme Court hearing over whether the former president and his family have complied with court orders to turn over paperwork.
Judge Arthur Engoron said Trump Org executives overseeing the company’s legal, hotel, marketing and golf departments must submit new affidavits outlining their policies on retaining documents that made it to Trump’s desk.
The directive came despite Trump’s sworn statement in April that he had no documents left to provide the AG. Engoron said he would leave in place a civil contempt order that’s already resulted in $110,000 in fines for Trump due to repeated delays in handing over evidence.
“I think leaving the contempt order in place is the simplest most effective way to get the job done,” said Engoron at the virtual hearing.
The judge will retroactively fine Trump $10,000 a day from May 7 if the ex president doesn’t cough up the rest of the requested evidence.
The new questions about whether the Trumps had been fully forthcoming with paperwork emerged through the May 31 deposition of Trump Organization executive assistant Rhona Graff, the hearing revealed.
Trump said in the sworn affidavit that he delegated document handling duties to his executive assistants. But lawyers for the AG said Graff’s testimony revealed that claim was “incomplete.”
“In fact, many documents that passed his desk bypassed the executive assistants altogether and were sent to various departments throughout the company,” Assistant Attorney General Andrew Amer said. “I don’t understand why we didn’t get the whole picture.”
Trump’s lawyer Alina Habba said his legal team had combed every inch of the 25th and 26th floors of Trump Tower.
“I have nothing left to give,” said Habba. “We’re being held at gunpoint, it feels like.”
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