Former President Donald Trump and two of his children must face depositions. A New York judge ruled that Trump and his children Donald Jr., and Ivanka must sit for depositions in the ongoing civil investigation of the Trump business practices.
New York Supreme Court Judge Arthur Engoron called for the three to sit for Attorney General Letitia James’s investigation into whether he misled lenders, insurers, and others in the family business’ financial statements.
Judge Engoron also rejected an attempt to freeze the Attorney General’s work.
Throughout the two-hour hearing and his ruling, Judge Engoron expressed skepticism over Trumps’ arguments that sitting for testimonies would undermine their constitutional rights. He said that the former president’s argument completely misses the mark.
Engoron severely criticized the Trump Organization for claiming that the civil investigation is somehow moot because the former President’s longtime accounting firm, MazarsUSA, announced this week that their past decade of financial statements prepared for Trump and his businesses were not reliable.
In his ruling, Engoron said the idea that the accounting firm’s announcement somehow exonerates Trump and his businesses and renders a legal investigation into its past practices as moot is reminiscent of Lewis Carroll, George Orwell, and ‘alternative facts.’ He called the Trump argument that the case is now moot both audacious and preposterous.
This ruling is just the latest in a long string of legal defeats for Trump. He continues to try and fight off investigations and lawsuits that are closing in on his businesses.
In this case, the Trump clan now must sit for their depositions within 21 days of his order. He gave Trump two weeks to comply with the Attorney General’s request for certain documents and records.
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