Jan. 4 (UPI) — Former President Donald Trump‘s eldest children will not comply with subpoenas by New York Attorney General Letitia James in connection with her tax fraud investigation of their father’s business practices, a court filing showed Monday.
A document filed jointly by James’ office and an attorney for the Trump Organization on Monday said “a dispute has arisen between the OAG and the Individual Trump Parties regarding the subpoenas.”
According to a stipulation filed in New York state supreme court, James revealed she had “recently” filed subpoenas seeking testimony and documents from former President Donald Trump’s two children “in connection with an investigation into the valuation of properties owned or controlled by Donald J. Trump or the Trump Organization.”
James also confirmed in the document that she is seeking to depose the former president himself in her probe of possible fraud in the Trump Organization’s reporting of property values to banks and tax authorities.
James, a Democrat, began the inquiry two years ago to determine whether the organization has committed fraud by inflating and minimizing the value of assets to gain fiscal breaks.
Eric Trump, another of Trump’s sons and a Trump Organization executive, was subpoenaed for the case in 2020 but refused to answer questions under oath.
The former president last month filed a lawsuit against James in a bid to stop her investigation, claiming the probe violates his constitutional rights and is motivated by the attorney general’s “own self-interests.”
The complaint accuses James’ investigation of being “solely” motivated by a “desire to harass and intimidate” a political opponent, listing multiple examples of critical statements the attorney general has made against Trump dating as far back as 2016.
Trump lawyer Ronald Fischetti told NBC News Monday said he is “not surprised” by the move to seek depositions from the Trump family members, again calling the move “purely political.”
Alan Futerfas, an attorney representing both Trump children, wrote a motion to quash the subpoenas, saying they violate the rules of criminal procedure and questioning the motive behind the investigation.
“The goal of the subpoenas is all too clear: Attorney General James seeks to circumvent the entire grand jury process and nullify Moving Parties’ most fundamental constitutional and statutory rights by requesting that they provide non-immunized testimony to the OAG — when the OAG/DANY is jointly conducting a grand jury investigation,” Futerfas wrote.
James, who last month dropped a bid to run for New York governor, has said the fraud probe was launched after Trump’s former lawyer, Michael Cohen, told Congress the organization routinely inflated the values of its assets to obtain favorable terms for loans and insurance coverage, while also deflating the value of other assets to reduce real estate taxes.
Four properties, including a mixed-use building on Wall Street in New York City, are under investigation.
