The Trump Organization and its longtime finance chief each pleaded not guilty Thursday to tax crime charges arising from a two-year investigation into former president Donald Trump's company. (July 1) AP Domestic
New York Attorney General Letitia James has issued subpoenas to Ivanka Trump and Donald Trump Jr., as part of an ongoing fraud inquiry examining the operations of former President Donald Trump's namesake real estate business.
The action was disclosed in court documents filed Monday in connection with the civil investigation focusing on whether the Trump Organization claimed false property valuations in its dealings with lenders and taxing authorities.
The move comes as the attorney general also is seeking the testimony of the former president."
Late Monday, lawyers for the Trump family sought to quash the subpoenas, casting the requests for testimony as driven by politics.
"The history of the attorney general's long-standing targeting and threatened prosecution of former President Trump and his business dealings has, at this point, been well chronicled," the court document stated.
The attorney general pushed back, asserting that Trump has repeatedly sought to derail the inquiry.
“For more than two years, members of the Trump family and the Trump Organization have continually sought to delay and impede our investigation into Donald Trump and the Trump Organization," James said in a statement. "But despite their names, they must play by the same rules as everyone else. These delay tactics will not stop us from following the facts or the law, which is why we will be asking the court to compel Donald Trump, Donald Trump Jr., and Ivanka Trump to testify with our office under oath. Our investigation will continue undeterred.â€
The civil investigation has been running parallel to a criminal inquiry led by both James and the Manhattan District Attorney's Office.
More: Trump Organization, CFO Allen Weisselberg indicted on tax charges
More: NY attorney general seeks Trump deposition in fraud inquiry targeting Trump Organization
Allen Weisselberg stands between President-elect Donald Trump and Donald Trump Jr. in the lobby of Trump Tower in New York on Jan. 11, 2017.
(Photo: Evan Vucci, AP)So far, the joint investigation has resulted in criminal tax evasion charges against Allen Weisselberg, the Trump Organization's longtime chief financial officer.
Last year, state prosecutors alleged that the Trump Organization and Weisselberg participated in an "off the books'' compensation operation that funded luxury car leases, family members' tuition payments and apartment rent starting in 2005 and running through this year.
New York Attorney General Letitia James addresses a news conference at her office, in New York. In an agreement disclosed late Wednesday, July 7, 2021, in a filing in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in White Plains, N.Y., more than a dozen states have dropped their objections to OxyContin maker Purdue Pharma's reorganization plan, edging the company closer to resolving its bankruptcy case.
(Photo: Richard Drew, AP)James first launched her investigation after former Trump attorney Michael Cohen told federal lawmakers in 2019 that Donald Trump regularly inflated the value of his properties and his net worth to get better insurance and loan rates.
In May, the attorney general announced that her office was joining forces with the Manhattan district attorney.
Donald Trump waits with daughter Ivanka Trump and son Donald Trump Jr. before speaking at a news conference on Jan. 11, 2017, in New York.
(Photo: Seth Wenig, AP)Read or Share this story: https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2022/01/03/trump-children-subpoenaed-ny-fraud-probe/9080031002/
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