Upon hearing about his tax practices, Donald Trump remained silent
The former US president was heard on Wednesday by the New York prosecutor’s office. He claims he is the victim of a “witch hunt” and refuses to answer questions.
Donald Trump was heard in the prosecutor’s office but invoked the famous 5th amendment to the American Constitution, which authorizes not to testify against himself.
KEYSTONE / AP / Julia Nikhinson
Donald Trump remained silent Wednesday during a six-hour sworn hearing with the New York Attorney General who suspects him of financial fraud within his Trump Organization group amid a political storm after a spectacular search of the FBI at his home in Florida.
The former US president has been targeted since 2019 with two of his children – Ivanka and Donald Jr – by a civil investigation by New York State’s highest magistrate, Letitia James. He was heard by Letitia James and her team in Manhattan from 9:00 am to 3:00 pm local time (3:00 pm to 9:00 pm Swiss time), but announced in a statement at the beginning of the hearing that she had pleaded the famous 5th Amendment to the American Constitution, which allows any litigant not to testify against himself.
The magistrate, elected Democrat, confirmed this in a brief statement after his face to face with the Republican billionaire and assured that “he will pursue the facts (and the application) of the law, wherever it leads”.
“Witch Hunt”
“Our investigations continue,” promised Letitia James, who for three years has insisted that “no one is above the law” in the United States. On the contrary, in her statement, the 45th American president once again presented himself as the victim of a “witch hunt” and claimed that he “refused to answer questions” under the Constitution.
At the end of the hearing, the entrepreneur spoke on his social network Truth Social about a “very professional meeting”. “I have a fantastic business with great resources, very little debt and a lot of CASH. It only happens in America! ” He added.
As soon as he joined Letitia James, he made fun of her “lavish, beautiful and expensive office (…), the beautiful working conditions while people are being killed in New York, and that she devotes her time and effort trying to” take Trump “. And when he arrived in New York on Tuesday evening, he even accused the African American prosecutor of being “racist”, claiming that he and his family and the Trump Organization are the target of “attacks from all sides” in a “banana republic.” Governed by Democrat Joe Biden.
This hearing of Donald Trump – who left power on January 20, 2021 without acknowledging Joe Biden’s victory and openly flirting with the idea of racing again in 2024 – had been requested for months by Letitia James and had been fixed. 15th of July. But the death of Donald Trump’s first wife, Ivana, had further postponed the event. According to CNN, Ivanka and Donald Jr had been discreetly heard by the attorney general’s services between late July and early August.
fraud
The civil investigation against the Trump Organization family group was opened after the explosive testimony in Washington Congress by one of Donald Trump’s former personal attorneys, Michael Cohen, that fraudulent valuations, up or down, assets within of the Trump Organization, to obtain loans, get tax breaks or better insurance compensation.
Letitia James assured in January that she had “unearthed important evidence suggesting that Donald Trump and the Trump Organization had falsely and fraudulently valued a number of assets,” most notably golf courses or the American billionaire’s personal triplex. located in the Trump Tower in New York.
Allegations brushed aside by Donald Trump’s lawyers. The Attorney General does not have the power to indict Donald Trump but can initiate civil proceedings and in particular seek damages. The alleged facts are also the subject of an investigation, this time criminal, led by the Manhattan prosecutor’s office.
Search in Mar-a-Lago
The hearing comes two days after an unprecedented search of Donald Trump’s home in Mar-a-Lago, Florida sparked outrage among Republicans. He also suggested on Truth Social that the FBI may have “planted” evidence against him during the operation. Never had a former White House tenant concerned himself with justice in this way.
Does the federal police search have anything to do with the many boxes Donald Trump brought with him when he left the White House in January 2021? Is it connected to the investigation into his responsibility in the assault on the Capitol?
Are you referring to the suspicions of financial fraud that the Trump Organization is subjected to in New York? Neither the Justice Department, nor the FBI nor the New York City Department commented this week. Donald Trump claims his innocence in all these cases.
AFP
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