08/10/2022

Former President Declines to Answer Questions in N.Y. AG Investigation

The Constitution's Fifth Amendment protects against self-incrimination

Former U.S. President Donald Trump said on Wednesday he declined to answer questions during an appearance before New York state's attorney general in a civil investigation into his family's business practices, citing his constitutional right against self-incrimination.

Trump, his son, Donald Trump, Jr., and his daughter, Ivanka Trump, had fought unsuccessfully to avoid appearing for testimony in state Attorney General Letitia James's probe into whether the Trump Organization inflated real estate values to obtain favorable loans and understated asset values to get tax breaks.

"I declined to answer the questions under the rights and privileges afforded to every citizen under the United States Constitution," Trump said in a statement issued roughly an hour after he arrived in a motorcade at the attorney general's office in lower Manhattan for the deposition behind closed doors.

Please select this link to read the complete article from Reuters.