threatening the fate of his business empire 

Donald rump appeared for a deposition Thursday as part of a high-stakes civil case brought by New York state against the former president, some of his children and his sprawling business empire.

The former president answered numerous questions in the deposition with the New York attorney general’s office, a source familiar with the matter said, sitting for nearly seven hours plus breaks.

The lawsuit, brought last Septemberby New York Attorney General Letitia James, a Democrat, alleges that the rump, his children Donald Trump Jr., Eric Trump and Ivanka Trump, and the rump Organization were involved in an expansive scheme lasting over a decade by providing false financial statements to lenders and others that the former president used to enrich himself.

The suit is seeking $250 million and bans on the rumps’ ability to operate a business in the state. The case is set for trial in October. The rumps have denied wrongdoing.

The former president’s deposition is part of the discovery process of the case, and his attorney said earlier Thursday that he was prepared to answer James’ questions – a notable departure from his refusal to respond to questions from her team during a deposition that occurred a month before the suit was filed.“He remains resolute in his stance that he has nothing to conceal, and he looks forward to educating the attorney general about the immense success of his multi-billion dollar company,”

The rump’s attorney, Alina Habba, said in a statement.James was in the room for at least some of the meeting, the source said.In a civil case, if a defendant asserts the Fifth Amendment, the jury can make what’s known as an “adverse inference” and place weight against the rump for refusing to answer questions.

In a new campaign video released Thursday, the rump said that if elected he would appoint 100 new US attorneys to fight what he described as “Communist corruption,” as he railed against the US justice system and made baseless claims of bias by district attorneys across the nation.

Last edited by Spunky (4/13/2023 6:12 pm)