The former president had been subpoenaed as part of NY AG Letitia James’ (D) investigation into his business and financial dealings. Despite multiple attempts to resist the investigation and subpoena, Trump reportedly arrived at the office Wednesday morning. There, he refused to answer questions, asserting his Fifth Amendment rights nearly 450 times, according to NBC. The Fifth Amendment gives Americans certain due process rights, including the protection that no one can be “compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself.” Although the amendment makes specific reference to criminal proceedings, the protection has been interpreted to apply to witnesses broadly. “I once asked, ‘If you’re innocent, why do you get the Fifth Amendment?’ Now I know the answer to that question,” Trump wrote in a statement on the 45office.com website on Wednesday. “When your family, your company and everyone in your orbit have been targeted in a baseless politically motivated witch hunt backed by lawyers, prosecutors and the Fake News Media, you have no choice.” The political investigation is looking into whether the former president misled investors, insurers and tax authorities about the value of the Trump Organization, inflating the value to attract investment and then deflating it to get tax breaks and loan benefits. However, Trump is also being investigated by the House Select Committee looking into the January 6, 2021 attacks on the US Capitol, as well as by the Department of Justice (DOJ), which has focused its investigation on Trump following the January pressure. 6 members of the committee to criminally investigate the former president. Several witnesses have been subpoenaed before the House committee and elsewhere regarding the Jan. 6 riots and the Trump campaign’s efforts to challenge and overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election — several have now pleaded with the Fifth to refrain from answering the questions. investigations. Eric Trump The former president’s son, Eric Trump, was questioned as part of the NY AG’s investigation in 2020 after efforts to delay the deposition failed.
Eric Trump fielded more than 500 questions Thursday about his role as executive vice president of the Trump Organization, according to the New York Times. He and his father have long accused James of having a political vendetta against the former president and dismissed the investigation as politically motivated. Two of Trump’s other children, Ivanka Trump and Donald Trump Jr., were subpoenaed as part of the NY AG’s investigation earlier this year. Their hearing was originally scheduled for mid-July, but James agreed to postpone it when the former president’s first wife, Ivana Trump, died the day before. Ivanka and Donald Trump, Jr. sat for depositions earlier this month. Roger Stone Political consultant Roger Stone was one of several Trump allies subpoenaed to testify before a House committee on Jan. 6 and plead Thursday to avoid answering the questioning. Stone was sentenced to prison as part of former special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election. He was pardoned by the former president days before his sentence was to begin. Stone was called before the committee because of his connections to Trump and his involvement in the January 6 riots, in which he allegedly used members of a far-right militia as his security. Before the committee Jan. 6, Stone invoked his Fifth Amendment rights for every question in a 90-minute deposition, CNN reported. Michael Flynn The Jan. 6 panel also subpoenaed former national security adviser Michael Flynn, seeking information about a December 2020 meeting where multiple people in the Oval Office reportedly discussed the 2020 presidential election and unsubstantiated allegations of fraud. Flynn tried to sue the committee, but eventually came forward and took the fifth during questioning. He refused to even answer whether he believed in a peaceful transition of power, according to CNN. After he testified, Flynn’s lawyers released a statement accusing the committee of implying “that General Flynn’s decision to refuse to answer their questions constituted an admission of guilt” and calling the investigation “political theater designed to create a false narrative based on her wrongdoing.” Committee View of the 5th Amendment’. John Eastman Conservative attorney John Eastman, who advised Trump and then-Vice President Mike Pence on overturning the 2020 presidential results, reportedly invoked Thursday dozens of times during a Jan. 6 appearance before the committee. Eastman helped devise the plan to pressure Pence to block congressional certification of the Jan. 6, 2021, presidential election. He also appeared with Trump at the Jan. 6 rally at the Ellipse, from which rioters headed toward the Capitol. Eastman later sought a pardon from then-President Trump. The DOJ announced in late July that it had obtained Eastman’s phone records. Geoffrey Clarke Former DOJ official Jeffrey Clark was the first witness to testify against the fifth before the committee on January 6. The committee initially voted to refer Clark for prosecution by the DOJ for contempt of Congress after he resisted the subpoena. The panel then met with Clark again after his lawyer announced he would assert his right against self-incrimination. Clark reportedly tried to send a letter telling Georgia officials of the defunct Justice Department concerns about the results of the state’s 2020 presidential election, according to the New York Times. In July, Clark was charged with ethics violations by the District of Columbia Bar Office of Disciplinary Counsel for his involvement in efforts to sway the 2020 election results. Alex Jones The far-right radio host said he had pleaded with the Thursday “almost 100 times” during questioning by the January 6 committee earlier this year. Jones told NBC News it was “a good thing” he didn’t answer any questions, expressing concern that his testimony could be used against him. Hillicon Valley — FBI’s Mar-a-Lago probe fuels online vitriol Defense & National Security – Garland defends FBI probe into Trump’s Mar-a-Lago Jones was reportedly involved in the planning and financing of January 6. He initially sued House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (Calif.) and the committee on Jan. 6 over the subpoena, resisting the subpoena to testify and the committee’s efforts to obtain his phone records. Jones’ phone records were reportedly handed over to the commission after his legal team mistakenly sent them to lawyers in a separate defamation case against him.