Former US president Donald Trump has invoked the Fifth Amendment to avoid questioning from the New York Attorney General.
A civil investigation is ongoing into the Trump family’s business practices, with AG Letitia James looking into whether the Trump organisation inflated real estate values.
The former POTUS invoked his right to refuse questioning in order to protect against self-incrimination.
While Trump has been able to avoid making any answers, his children Donald Trump Jr and Ivanka Trump will still have to appear for testimony as their attempts were unsuccessful.
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Trump said in a statement: "Under the advice of my counsel and for all of the above reasons, I declined to answer the questions under the rights and privileges afforded to every citizen under the United States Constitution.”
Ms James has been probing whether Trump’s organisations overstated asset values such as hotels and golf courses to obtain favourable loans and understated the values to obtain tax breaks.
And surprise, surprise, she thinks she’s found enough evidence that a big-wealthy rich man may have actually been trying to avoid paying more tax.
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After making his statement he even went as far as raising a fist in some sort of defiant move outside of Trump Tower.
Trump pleading the Fifth is a bold strategy that could backfire should the investigation lead to a trial, with jurors taking into account that Trump may actually be hiding something.
And as with most things Trump says or does it completely opposes his previous opinions.
The Republican has consistently bagged those who invoked the Fifth and has been quoted as saying in the past: “If you’re innocent, why are you taking the Fifth Amendment?”
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That’s a toughie, isn’t it Donald?
At least he didn’t completely shy away from the irony in his statement, saying: “I once asked, ‘If you’re innocent, why are you taking the Fifth Amendment?’ Now I know the answer to that question.”
He added: “When your family, your company, and all the people in your orbit have become the targets of an unfounded, politically motivated Witch Hunt supported by lawyers, prosecutors, and the Fake News Media, you have no choice.”
Interesting how Trump wants to be treated like any normal citizen when it comes to pleading the Fifth but chucks a fit when the FBI treats him how they would any other citizen accused of a crime.
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The former Republican leader attempted to link the investigation to the FBI search of his Florida Mar-a-Lago home, calling the investigation a politically motivated move from the Democrats.
Trump had agreed to testify in June, but only after the court rejected his argument that he shouldn’t have to do so as he believed the probe was only undertaken for political reasoning.
Topics: US News, Politics, Crime, Donald Trump
