Donald Trump called New York Attorney General Letitia James “racist” hours before announcing he had invoked his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination during testimony in her office’s long-running probe into allegations of fraud relating to his real estate dealings.
As he departed New York City’s Trump Tower for the sworn deposition, the former president was photographed raising his fist in a show of defiance.
Minutes later he released a statement saying that he had refused to answer any questions under the Fifth Amendment.
Mr Trump’s move followed testimony given by his children Ivanka and Donald Jr in recent weeks. The three Trumps fought hard to avoid testifying, with the ex-president arguing that the subpoena violated his constitutional rights as a former president.
However, that claim was dismissed by the state court of appeals in June, paving the way for Wednesday’s deposition.
The probe is examining specific claims that the Trump Organization systematically over- and under-valued real estate assets in order to both obtain favourable loan terms and lighten its tax burden. Mr Trump and the organisation deny the allegations.
Ms James’s civil probe is separate from a criminal fraud investigation into the Trump Organization being pursued by the Manhattan District Attorney’s office. That investigation ran aground earlier this year after a change of leadership, with incoming District Attorney Alvin Bragg reportedly wary of indicting the former president lest he lose the case.
However, should criminal conduct relevant to that probe come to light as a result of the state investigation, Ms James could hypothetically refer it to her Manhattan counterparts for the benefit of their investigation.
Mr Trump has many times decried Ms James’s probe as a political witch-hunt and referred to her as a racist, including in a post issued Tuesday night on Truth Social.
“Seeing racist N.Y.S. Attorney General tomorrow, for a continuation of the greatest Witch Hunt in U.S. history!” he wrote. “My great company, and myself, are being attacked from all sides. Banana Republic!”
He also shared a bizarre supercut of Ms James making unflattering remarks about him and promising to investigate his affairs, as she has insisted she will continue to do despite his remarks about her.
Mr Trump renewed his attack against Ms James in his statement announcing he had pleaded the fifth.
“Under the advice of my counsel and for all of the above reasons, I declined to answer the questions under the rights and privileges afforded to every citizen under the United States Constitution,” he wrote.
Under an image of the Great Seal of the United States, Mr Trump accused the Empire State’s top prosecutor of “mak[ing] a career” of “attacking” him and his business and of being “a failed politician who has intentionally colluded with others” to “carry out this phony years-long crusade that has wasted countless taxpayer dollars”.
“What Letitia James has tried to do the last three years is a disgrace to the legal system, an affront to New York State taxpayers, and a violation of the solemn rights and protections afforded by the United States Constitution,” said Mr Trump, who added that he “did nothing wrong”.
Today’s developments come just two days after the FBI separately raided Mr Trump’s residence at Mar-a-Lago as part of an investigation into whether he illegally took classified or privileged documents to Florida with him after leaving office instead of turning them over to the government as required by law.
Posting on Truth Social this morning, he claimed that the FBI excluded his lawyers from the property while they searched it – possibly so that agents could plant evidence.
