The judge denied the Trump camp’s motion to quash the testimonial request.
Article written by
Published
Reading time : 1 min.
New setback for Donald Trump, when he leaves doubts about his intentions for the 2024 presidential election. A New York judge ordered Thursday, February 17 to the former president and two of his children, Donald Jr. and Ivanka, to testify under oath in the context of the civil investigation into the tax practices of his group.
After a videoconference hearing, the judge rejected the Trump camp’s request to quash the request for testimony made by Democratic prosecutor Letitia James, who suspects the businessman of fraud.
As a result, the judge ordered the 45th President of the United States to “come and testify within 21 days of this decision”, i.e. March 10. An order that also applies to his two children, also in the crosshairs of Letitia James. The 75-year-old businessman, however, can still challenge the judge’s decision and could, in any case, choose not to answer the prosecutor’s questions.
The civil investigation was accelerated in January when Letitia James announced that she had gathered “significant evidence suggesting that Donald J. Trump and the Trump Organization falsely and fraudulently valued a number of assets”in order to obtain economic benefits.
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.