Former US President Donald Trump said on Wednesday that he declined to answer questions before the New York state attorney general during an appearance in a civil investigation into his family’s business practices.
“I refuse to answer questions about the rights and privileges given to every citizen under the Constitution of the United States,” Trump said in a statement.
New York State Attorney General Letitia James is investigating whether the Trump Organization has inflated real estate values. Trump and his two adult children, Donald Trump Jr. and Ivanka Trump, fought to avoid testifying but lost. Trump raised his fist as he left Trump Tower on Wednesday morning, wearing a blue suit with a flag pin on his lapel.
Trump said in a posting on his app Truth Social late Tuesday that he would meet with New York’s attorney general on Wednesday. A source also told Reuters that Trump is due to testify in the investigation on Wednesday. The source said Trump’s children have already been questioned.
The statement will not be made public.
A spokesman for James declined to comment. A Trump attorney did not respond to requests for comment.
James has said his investigation has uncovered significant evidence that the Trump Organization, which manages hotels, golf courses and other real estate, inflated property values to obtain favorable loans and to obtain tax exemptions. reduced the values.
Trump has denied wrongdoing and called the New York investigation politically motivated. James is a Democrat.
Separately, the FBI searched Trump’s Florida property on Monday, increasing a federal investigation into whether he illegally removed records from the White House when he left office in January 2021.
Trump has been publicly flirting with the question of running for president again in 2024, but hasn’t said explicitly whether he will.
The warrant for a search of Trump’s Florida property pertains to the National Archives and Records Administration, which has been charged with protecting presidential records that belong to the public, and whether Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach, Florida classified documents. to a person familiar with the matter.
Trump has struggled with a number of legal troubles since leaving office, when his supporters stormed the US Capitol on January 6, 2021, in an unsuccessful attempt to reverse his election losses. Trump continues to falsely claim that the election was stolen through widespread voting fraud.
This story has been published without modification in text from a wire agency feed.
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