In an uncustomary action?
Donald J. Trump was unresponsive citing his 5th Amendment Right to NOT ‘incriminate’ himself to tune of 400 questions over 4 hours in his orders sitdown for a state level civil fraud case….
Trump emerged from the question-and-non-answer session with praise for the “very professional” way Attorney General Letitia James’s team handled the meeting, in which he refused more than 400 times to answer questions about his businesses, property valuations and loans, according to a person with knowledge of the discussion. This person, speaking on the condition of anonymity to describe the closed session, said Trump stated his name, formally declared his Fifth Amendment right not to incriminate himself, and from then on replied to many questions with two words: “Same answer.”
Less than two years after leaving office, Trump faces legal jeopardy from multiple directions, with criminal probes into his possible withholding of classified documents and efforts to overturn the 2020 election results; James’s civil probe; and congressional inquiries into his taxes and his conduct related to the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot…..
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Mr. Trump’s only detailed comment, people with knowledge of the proceeding said, was an all-out attack on the attorney general and her inquiry, which he called a continuation of “the greatest witch hunt in the history of our country.”
“I once asked, ‘If you’re innocent, why are you taking the Fifth Amendment?’” he said while reading from a prepared statement, which overlapped significantly with one he released to the public. “I now know the answer to that question.” He said that he was being targeted by lawyers, prosecutors and the news media, and that left him with “absolutely no choice” but to do so.
Ms. James is now left with a crucial decision: whether to sue Mr. Trump, or seek a settlement that could extract a significant financial penalty. And while declining to answer questions might have offered the safest route for the former president, it could strengthen Ms. James’s hand in the weeks to come.
In a statement on Wednesday, a spokeswoman for Ms. James said, “Attorney General James will pursue the facts and the law wherever they may lead. Our investigation continues.”
The encounter, the first time the former president had faced off directly with Ms. James, who has become his chief antagonist in New York came at a particularly perilous moment for Mr. Trump….
Citizens for Ethics
Hillary Clinton testified for 11 hours about Benghazi.
Donald Trump pleaded the Fifth Amendment, over and over again, to avoid answering a question.