Eric Trump’s attorneys said that their client is willing to comply with a subpoena issued by New York Attorney General Letitia James, but only after the upcoming presidential election in November to avoid “any appearance of politicizing” the process, according to a Thursday court filing, the Associated Press reports. But, it does indeed look political that Eric is avoiding the subpoena until after the election.
Eric Trump’s lawyers argued, “extreme travel schedule” related to his father’s re-election campaign and said that prevented him from testifying sooner in James’ civil probe. They said they also wanted “to avoid the use of his deposition attendance for political purposes.”
In August, James went to court to compel the Trump Organization, including Eric, to testify and turn over documents as part of an investigation into whether the family’s company illegally inflated his assets to attract investors and earn loans or tax benefits.
Leticia James isn’t playing around.
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“For months, the Trump Organization has made baseless claims in an effort to shield evidence from a lawful investigation into its financial dealings,” James said in a statement last month. “They have stalled, withheld documents, and instructed witnesses, including Eric Trump, to refuse to answer questions under oath. That’s why we’ve filed a motion to compel the Trump Organization to comply with our office’s lawful subpoenas for documents and testimony. These questions will be answered, and the truth will be uncovered because no one is above the law.”
In response to the president’s son’s Thursday filing, James said: “no one is above the law, period.”
“While we cannot comment on the particular steps we’re taking on specific litigation, we won’t allow any entity or individual to dictate how our investigation will proceed or allow anyone to evade a lawful subpoena,” she said in a statement.
The Trumps’ lawyers contend most law-enforcement agencies refrain from actions involving political figures within 60 days before an election, though that wasn’t the case when then–FBI Director James Comey sent a letter to Congress a week before the 2016 presidential election regarding the reopening of a probe into Trump rival Hillary Clinton’s emails.
Ohhhhhh. We remember that, and the Trumps do, too.
After Trump’s former personal lawyer and fixer Michael Cohen testified in front of Congress in 2019 and said that Trump repeatedly inflated the value of his assets to garner loans, the Attorney General launched her civil investigation of potential fraud in Trump’s business dealings. And Donald Trump has lied about his wealth before. I’m starting to see a pattern here.
Donald Trump lashed out at Governor Cuomo in February over the investigations into his businesses. James intervened on Twitter to explain to the president that she files the lawsuits, not the governor. Trump’s desperation is palatable. And you know, if Trump didn’t have such a nepotistic administration, then Eric’s travel schedule wouldn’t be an issue.
Featured image via Gage Skidmore/Flickr, under Creative Commons license 2.0
