NY Court Orders Trump to Testify in Civil Fraud Probe

A four-judge panel rejected arguments from Trump’s attorneys that the former president and his children were being unfairly targeted as a "political witch hunt."

NY Court Orders Trump to Testify in Civil Fraud Probe

A New York state appeals court ruled Thursday that former President Donald Trump and two of his adult children must testify under oath as part of the New York attorney general’s civil-fraud investigation into the Trump family business, reports the Wall Street Journal. A four-judge panel from the Appellate Division’s First Judicial Department rejected arguments from Trump’s attorneys that James had unfairly targeted the former president and his children for political reasons and that could use information gathered through the depositions to gather evidence for a separate criminal investigation by the Manhattan district attorney.

The Trumps “have failed to demonstrate that they were treated differently from any similarly situated persons” and “The existence of a criminal investigation does not preclude civil discovery of related facts,” the court wrote. The parties in March agreed to delay the depositions until two weeks after the appeals court ruled. It is possible the Trumps could ask a higher court to further postpone the testimony.