Her office also won a series of court rulings forcing Trump’s company and a law firm it hired to turn over troves of records. James’ office has also been looking at similar issues relating to a Trump office building in New York City, a hotel in Chicago and a golf course near Los Angeles. Vance later issued subpoenas seeking many of the same records. James’ office issued subpoenas to local governments for records pertaining to Trump’s estate north of Manhattan, known as Seven Springs, and a tax benefit Trump received for placing land into a conservation trust. They’ve pleaded not guilty to charges alleging they evaded taxes on lucrative fringe benefits paid to executives.īoth investigations are at least partly related to allegations by Trump’s former personal lawyer, Michael Cohen, that Trump had a history of misrepresenting the value of assets. Vance, a Democrat who is leaving office at the end of the year, recently convened a new grand jury to hear evidence as he weighs whether to seek more indictments in the investigation, which resulted in tax fraud charges in July against the Trump Organization and its longtime CFO Allen Weisselberg. It’s unlikely Trump’s lawyers would allow him to be deposed unless they were sure his testimony couldn’t be used against him in a criminal case. It’s rare for law enforcement agencies to issue a civil subpoena for testimony from a person who is also the subject of a related criminal probe, in part because that person could simply invoke the Fifth Amendment right to remain silent. As with Eric Trump, James’ office will now likely have to issue a subpoena and go to a judge to order the former president to cooperate. 7, James’ requested date, to answer questions voluntarily. But it’s clear he won’t be showing up Jan. Trump’s lawsuit didn’t explicitly mention James’ request for his testimony, aside from a brief reference. Her office went to court to enforce a subpoena on the younger Trump, and a judge forced him to testify after his lawyers abruptly canceled a previously scheduled deposition. Last year, James’ investigators interviewed one of Trump’s sons, Trump Organization executive Eric Trump. James has spent more than two years investigating whether the Trump Organization misled banks or tax officials about the value of assets - inflating them to gain favorable loan terms or minimizing them to reap tax savings. It’s very hard to get a federal court to stop a state investigation when state courts are available to review any misconduct.” “Nonetheless, I think a federal court will want stronger proof of James’ partiality than Trump can muster. “During her campaign for attorney general, James foolishly stressed her intent to target Trump and his businesses if elected,” Gillers said. Supreme Court fight that ended in February with Vance obtaining his tax records. New York University law professor Stephen Gillers said that while it’s clear James “gave Trump ammunition to argue that she has a vendetta against him,” the lawsuit remains a longshot for Trump, who has lost multiple lawsuits aimed at foiling investigators, including a multiyear U.S. Trump also wants a judge to declare that James violated his free speech and due process rights. Although the civil investigation is separate, James’ office has been involved in both. Trump seeks a permanent injunction barring James from investigating him and preventing her from being involved in any “civil or criminal” investigations against him and his company, such as a parallel criminal probe she’s a part of that’s being led by Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr. The case is assigned to Judge Brenda Sannes in Syracuse, who was appointed in 2014 by former President Barack Obama, a Democrat, but preliminary proceedings will be handled by a magistrate judge in Albany, which isn’t unusual for federal court. News of the lawsuit, filed in upstate New York, was first reported by The New York Times. James had announced a run for New York governor in late October, but earlier this month, she suspended that campaign and cited ongoing investigations in her decision to instead seek reelection as state attorney general.
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