Judging Freedom - New York A.G. Seeks to Question Trump Children in Fraud Inquiry

Episode Date: January 3, 2022

Judge Napolitano details how Ivanka Trump and Donald Trump Jr. have been subpoenaed by New York Attorney General Letitia James.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Hello there everyone, Judge Andrew Napolitano here on Judging Freedom. Today is Monday, January 3rd, 2022. The news just broke a few minutes ago that the Attorney General of the State of New York, Letitia James, has served subpoenas on the adult children of former President Donald Trump, that's Donald Trump Jr., Eric Trump, and Ivanka Trump, commanding them to sit for depositions in the civil investigation of the Trump Organization. Now, there are two investigations that we know of going on in New York. One is criminal, where Allen Wesselberg, the former chief financial officer of the Trump organization, has been indicted for conspiracy to commit fraud. That would be the signing off on official government documents of materials that he knew were wrong,

intending for the government to lie on them. And the Trump Organization itself has been indicted for the same crime. The subpoenas that were issued last week and were revealed just a few moments ago by Attorney General James are not in that case. They're in a civil case in which the state of New York is suing the Trump Organization, former President Trump, his three adult children, and various other entities in which former President Trump has done business, names of corporations through which he has done his work, arguing that they have committed fraud. The argument for the fraud is a pretty basic one. The argument is that when the former president

had an office building and he needed to insure the building or borrow money on the building or pay taxes on the building, he gave three different values for it, depending upon what would be to his advantage. So he told the taxing authorities the value of the building was very low. And he told the bank that the value of the building was very high, so he could borrow more money on it. And he told the insurance carriers that the value of the building was very high. And in case there was damage to the building, he'd collect more money. That is the allegation that the attorney general has made against him. She is not in a position to prosecute for crimes, but she is in a position to sue people who she

believes cheated the government. She's looking for money. She's not looking to put anybody in jail. But that's where these two cases can blend together because she is obviously looking to extract information from the former president's children, which she will then turn over to the district attorney in New York City who's prosecuting the former CFO, Alan Wesselberg, and the Trump organization itself. Can she do it?

The answer is yes, she can. Do the Trump children have to answer questions? No, they don't. They have the same right to silence protected by the Fifth Amendment as any of us does, particularly if they are exposed to potential prosecution by the district attorney of the city of New York. So we don't know how this will end up. I am sure that the Trump children, that their lawyer will challenge this. I don't know how the judge will rule. My prediction is that he will rule that they must sit for the deposition,

but once they sit, they probably will assert their Fifth Amendment right to silence. That would be my advice if I were representing them. This is chapter one of a book that's going to have many chapters and many pages in it. I hope you like these pop-ups. We try and keep them as relevant and as timely as we can. You know, if you log on to Judging Freedom and subscribe and ask for notifications, you'll find that whenever these pop-ups are popping up. Judge LaPolitan, Judging Freedom.