Judge rejects Eric Trump’s bid to delay interview with N.Y. attorney general
A state judge on Wednesday ordered Eric Trump to answer questions under oath by early October in an investigation into the family’s real estate business by the New York attorney general’s office.
“The court’s order today makes clear that no one is above the law, not even an organization or an individual with the name Trump,” New York Attorney General Tish James said in a statement.
James’ office is looking into whether the Trump organization fraudulently represented the value of its assets to get more favorable loans and tax benefits. Eric Trump has overseen the day-to-day operations of the Trump Organization while his father is serving in the White House.
Lawyers for the president’s son said last week that he would sit for an interview, provided it was scheduled after the election in November, and suggested a handful of “reasonable” post-election dates for such a meeting.
Eric Trump’s lawyers argued the interview should be put off until after the election so as to not impinge on his travel schedule — he is a campaign surrogate for President Donald Trump — or risk having the deposition weaponized for political purposes.
Manhattan Supreme Court Judge Arthur Engoron rejected Trump’s request and instead ordered him to undergo deposition by Oct. 7. During the hearing, Engoron said he found Eric Trump’s arguments “unpersuasive,” saying that the legal system is not “bound by timelines of the national election," according to multiple media reports.
James, the attorney general, said: “We will immediately move to ensure that Donald Trump and the Trump Organization comply with the court’s order and submit financial records related to our investigation. To be clear, no entity or individual is allowed to dictate how or when our investigation will proceed or set the parameters of a lawful investigation.”
Eric Trump opted out of a previously scheduled interview in July with investigators two days before it was to take place, prompting James’ office to go to court to enforce its subpoena as part of the probe.
The investigation is one of the numerous legal matters the the president and his family are juggling. Manhattan District Attorney Cy Vance’s office is fighting to dislodge Trump’s financial records, including his tax returns, as part of a yearslong look into possible banking and insurance fraud tied to Trump’s business dealings.
And the Justice Department this month took on Trump’s legal defense in a defamation lawsuit filed by the writer E. Jean Carroll, who claims that Trump raped her in a department store dressing room decades ago.