(PatriotWise.com)- Lawyers representing former President Donald Trump and his children have reached an agreement with the New York Attorney General’s office that temporarily spares them from being deposed pending the outcome of Trump’s appeal.
Last month, Manhattan Judge Arthur Engoron had ordered that the former president along with his children Donald Trump Junior and Ivanka Trump be deposed as part of New York’s civil investigation into the Trump Organization’s business practices.
Trump’s lawyers filed papers last Monday with the appellate division of New York’s trial court seeking to overturn Judge Engoron’s ruling.
Under the deal reached between the Trump family lawyers and the AG’s office last Thursday, if the appeals court upholds the lower court’s decision, Trump and his children must sit for depositions within two weeks of the ruling.
Lawyers for the Trump family and Attorney General Letitia James’ office also agreed to an accelerated briefing schedule which would speed up the appeals process. Court papers in the appeal are now due by the end of March.
In their appeal, Trump’s lawyers argue that ordering the Trumps to testify under oath violates their 5th Amendment rights because the answers given in Letitia James’ civil investigation could be used against them in a parallel criminal investigation by the Southern District of New York.
In his 8-page ruling from February 17, Judge Engoron ordered the Trumps to sit for depositions on Thursday, March 10. However, last week’s agreement between their lawyers and the AG’s office rendered that deadline moot.
Letitia James, a Democrat who was elected New York Attorney General in 2018, had campaigned on the promise that, if elected, she would take down Donald Trump. She claims her endless investigation into the Trump Organization has uncovered evidence that the company used “fraudulent or misleading” valuations of assets to secure loans and tax benefits.
After Judge Engoron ordered the Trumps to sit for depositions, the former president called Engorons ruling “a continuation of the greatest Witch Hunt in history.”
