New York Attorney General subpoenas Trump

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The New York attorney general subpoenaed former President Donald Trump for his testimony as part of a civil fraud investigation into the Trump Organization, according to people familiar with the matter.

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(CNN)The New York attorney general subpoenaed former President Donald Trump for his testimony as part of a civil fraud investigation into the Trump Organization, according to people familiar with the matter.
Letitia James, the New York attorney general, has set a deadline for the deposition by January 7, Trump's lawyer Ronald Fischetti told CNN.
Fischetti said he will be filing a motion to quash the subpoena.

The attorney general's office is investigating whether the Trump Organization manipulated the value of its properties, including gold courses, hotels and condo buildings. They are working with the Manhattan District Attorney's office on a parallel criminal investigation into the Trump Organization. The two investigations are separate, but some attorneys from James' office have been designated to work on the criminal investigation, which is ongoing.

The deposition sought by James "is not part of the criminal investigation," said Danny Frost, a spokesman for Cyrus Vance, the Manhattan District Attorney.

A spokesperson for the Trump Organization said in a statement: "This is another political witch-hunt."

Fischetti, Trump's attorney, said there is a "conflict" with James' involvement in both the civil and criminal investigations. He said Trump has sat for many depositions over the years and the office could review any one of them.
Since Trump is facing a criminal investigation, the risks of testifying would be high. If compelled to testify in the civil inquiry, the judge or jury could make an adverse inference in weighing his liability. Unlike in a criminal case, Trump would not have a Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination.

Former President Donald Trump has been held in civil contempt for his failure to comply with a subpoena issued by the New York attorney general's office.

In a bench ruling Monday, Judge Arthur Engoron ruled there was no evidence that Trump had conducted a "proper, thorough search" for items that might be relevant to the subpoena, and said that what his attorney offered as evidence of compliance was "woefully insufficient."

Addressing Trump, who was not in court, Engoron said, "I know you take your business seriously, and I take mine seriously."

Engoron imposed a daily fine of $10,000 until Trump is fully compliant or offers sufficient proof he has nothing more to turn over.

Trump attorney Alina Habba, in a statement released in response to the ruling, said, "We respectfully disagree with the court's decision. All documents responsive to the subpoena were produced to the attorney general months ago. The only issue raised by the attorney general at today's hearing was with an affidavit submitted which copied the form mandated by the attorney general. This does not even come close to meeting the standard on a motion for contempt and, thus, we intend to appeal."

The attorney general's office argued that Trump's response to a subpoena for documents was "absolutely deficient" following a court order for Trump to fully comply by March 31.

Donald Trump is not beyond the reach of this court's authority," New York Assistant Attorney General Andrew Amer said at the hearing. "We are being deprived of evidence."

Judge Arthur Engoron faulted Trump, who did not appear in court, and his attorney for failing to show they actually tried to comply.

"You can't just say I don't have anything," Engoron said. "You have to say where you looked."

"Engoron imposed a daily fine of $10,000 until Trump is fully compliant or offers sufficient proof he has nothing more to turn over."