President Donald Trump has invoked his Fifth Amendment rights in his deposition for New York Attorney General Letitia James’ civil investigation. Trump asserted that he acted on the advice of his attorneys.
Trump also said that the investigation is an “unfounded politically motivated Witch Hunt,” and said he had no choice but to plead the fifth because the Biden administration and many lawyers across the nation have “lost all moral and ethical bounds of decency.”
In the statement released on Wednesday, Trump said,
“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. I did nothing wrong, which is why, after five years of looking, the Federal, State and local governments, together with the Fake News Media, have found nothing.
We cannot permit a renegade and out-of-control prosecutor to use this investigation as a means of advancing her political career. New York deserves better, and this Country deserves better. This is a vindictive and self-serving fishing expedition, the likes of which our Country has never seen before.
The United States Constitution exists for this very purpose, and I will utilize it to the fullest extent to defend myself against this malicious attack by this administration, this Attorney General’s Office, and all other attacks on my family, my business, and our Country.
I once asked, ‘If you’re innocent, why are you taking the Fifth Amendment?’ Now I know the answer to that question…When your family, your company, and all the people in your orbit have become the targets of an unfounded, politically motivated Witch Hunt supported by lawyers, prosecutors, and the Fake News Media, you have no choice.
If there was any question in my mind, the raid of my home, Mar-a-Lago, on Monday by the FBI, just two days prior to this deposition, wiped out any uncertainty. I have absolutely no choice because the current Administration and many prosecutors in this Country have lost all moral and ethical bounds of decency.
Accordingly, 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.”
Trump’s daughter Ivanka and his son Donald Trump Jr. were deposed earlier this month.
The depositions are part of a civil investigation launched by NY AG James into the Trump Organization to see whether or not he inflated the value of his company to get loans.
Trump has denied the allegations and has called the investigation a politically motivated ‘witch-hunt’
