Production opened in 2019.
Former US President Donald Trump and his seniors in New York are due to testify under oath in the Trump Organization fraud case.
AP reports.
Judge Arthur Engoron ordered Trump and his two oldest children, Ivanka and Donald Trump Jr., to comply with subpoenas issued in December by New York Attorney General Letitia James. Trump and his two children must testify within 21 days, Engoron said.
“Eventually, the Attorney General opens an investigation into the business entity, uncovers multiple evidence of possible financial fraud, and wants to interrogate under oath several executives of the business entities, including his namesake. She has a clear right to do so,” the judge’s decision says.
Trump's lawyers told Engoron during the hearing that his participation in civil testimony now prohibits prosecutors from calling anyone to testify without granting them immunity.
“If they want an affidavit from my client, he is entitled to immunity. He gets immunity for what he says or he says nothing,” Trump's criminal defense attorney Ronald Fischetti said at the hearing via videoconference . But he added that if Trump testified in a civil investigation, anything he says could be used against him in a criminal investigation that is overseen by the Manhattan District Attorney's office.
Recall that in May 2021, the New York Attorney General's Office launched a criminal investigation into the Trump Organization, which controls Trump's real estate and other assets. Civil proceedings were opened in 2019. It concerned allegations that the ex-president inflated the value of his assets to banks when seeking loans and understated them to reduce taxes.
Meanwhile, Donald Trump himself considers the situation “a political witch hunt by radical left-wing Democrats,” in which New York plays a major role.
It is worth noting that the Trump Organization is a family-owned holding company that owns hotels, golf clubs and other real estate and is the “cornerstone” of Trump's global brand.
