Donald Trump and two of his children have agreed to testify on July 15 in a New York state civil investigation into the former U.S. president’s alleged illicit business practices.
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According to an agreement with state Attorney General Letitia James announced on Wednesday, Donald Trump Jr. and Ivanka Trump will join their father in testifying and addressing claims that the Trump Organization mislead lenders and tax authorities.
The agreement comes more than half a year after James initially issued subpoenas for their testimony and a bitter court battle, ultimately resulting in an intermediate state appeals court denying the Trumps’ bid to avoid testimony in the probe.
The Trumps had argued that testifying in the civil probe would violate their constitutional rights because their statements could be used in a related criminal investigation led by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg.
A New York state judge separately ordered Wednesday that Trump must send James affidavits from Trump Organization executives related to their policies for retaining and destroying records.
But the judge, Arthur Engoron, said he would not fully eliminate a contempt order he issued against Trump in April for failing to comply with a subpoena from James. Trump had claimed he had no documents that were relevant to the probe, an assertion Engoron said he found “surprising.”
“I think leaving the contempt order in place is the simplest, most effective way to get the job done,” Justice Engoron said. “I think it’s very clear that the attorney general is entitled to these document retention and destruction policies and practices. So, the contempt order stays exactly the way it was yesterday.”
James alleges that her investigation has found evidence that the Trump Organization – which manages hotels, golf courses and other real estate throughout the world – purposely overstated asset values to receive benefits such as favorable loan terms and understated the values to obtain tax breaks.
The former president, possibly the country’s most known Republican, has denied wrongdoing, and called the investigation politically motivated by James, a Democrat.
The Trumps have a deadline of June 13 to request that the Court of Appeals issue a stay, further delaying any testimony in the probe.
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