“For me, he is a citizen like the others. On Thursday, a New York judge dismissed an appeal by Donald Trump, who sought to block a civil justice subpoena in New York State, which suspects his company, the Trump Organization, of “fraudulent tax practices “.
In a decision that can still be appealed, the judge gave the former US president 14 days to provide the requested documents, and 21 days for him and his children Ivanka to testify under oath. and Donald Jr.
While Donald Trump’s lawyers assured that his status as a former president complicated the situation, the judge recalled that he could, like everyone else, invoke his right not to incriminate himself under the 5th Amendment and refuse to answer each question by “arguing the fifth ».
Overpriced properties
“No one will be allowed to stand in the way of justice, no matter how powerful. No one is above the law,” said prosecutor Letitia James.
The civil investigation was accelerated in January when Letitia James announced that she had gathered “significant evidence that suggests that Donald J. Trump and the Trump Organization falsely and fraudulently valued a number of assets “, in order to obtain profits economic.
These proceedings are taking place in parallel with a separate investigation, criminal this time and carried out by the Manhattan district attorney’s office, in which the Trump Organization and its faithful chief financial officer, Allen Weisselberg, have been charged with tax evasion. They have pleaded not guilty and the trial is due to open in mid-2022.
For her part, Letitia James had asked to hear Donald Trump and her two children in early December. On January 18, she had substantiated her suspicions in a court document of more than 100 pages. She suspects the Trump Organization of having “fraudulently” overstated the value of certain properties when applying for loans from banks and of having understated these same properties with the tax authorities in order to pay less taxes. According to her, Donald Trump had “decision-making power over a wide range of practices at the Trump Organization, including misrepresentations to third parties, including financial institutions and the US tax authorities (IRS)”.