(New York) Donald Trump is back in New York on Thursday to be heard in a future civil trial in which he is accused of fraud within his group, the Trump Organization, a week after his indictment history in another case.
The former American president, who intends to regain the White House in 2024, must give evidence under oath and out of sight.
The Republican billionaire left the Trump Tower in Manhattan on Thursday morning and his vehicle engulfed a little later in the parking lot of the building where the offices of the Attorney General of the State of New York are located, Letitia James, found AFP journalists.
A security device with barriers and law enforcement was put in place at the foot of the building, in the financial district of Manhattan near Wall Street, where a handful of opponents and supporters were waiting for Donald Trump.
The New York State Attorney General, elected as a Democrat, is suing Donald Trump and three of his children, demanding $250 million in compensation and bans from running businesses.
Letitia James accuses the Republican billionaire and his children of “astonishing fraud” in his words, having “deliberately” manipulated the valuations of the assets of the group – which includes golf clubs, luxury hotels and other properties – to obtain more advantageous loans from banks or reduce taxes.
A “ridiculous” affair
Hearings under oath and in camera may take place as part of the procedure, before the actual start of the trial, currently set for October.
A “ridiculous” case, “just like all the other cases of electoral interference to which I am subject”, wrote on his social network Truth Social the former president, who nevertheless sees the legal files accumulating on the road of the primary for the Republican nomination.
In addition to his historic indictment, criminal this time in early April in New York, Donald Trump also remains in the sights of justice for his alleged involvement in an attempt to turn the results of the vote in 2020 in Georgia in his favor, and on his role. in the assault on the Capitol by his supporters, on January 6, 2021.
In his message on Truth Social, Donald Trump also called Letitia James, an African-American prosecutor, a “racist”, as he calls Manhattan prosecutor Alvin Bragg, also African-American, who indicted him a “racist”. .
The 76-year-old billionaire had already responded to a summons last August, but throughout the hearing he had invoked his right to remain silent, under the 5e amendment to the US Constitution.
On April 4, Donald Trump was indicted for 34 alleged accounting and tax frauds, related to payments to cover up three embarrassing affairs before the 2016 presidential election, including a sexual relationship with porn actress Stormy Daniels whom he has always denied.
This indictment was a first for a former US president.