NEW YORK — Eric Trump says he’s willing to be questioned under oath by New York state lawyers in a civil probe of the family business, but only after the Nov. 3 election.
New York Attorney General Letitia James has been seeking sworn testimony from the president’s son for months as part of a probe of asset valuations at the Trump Organization. Trump’s lawyers said in a court filing Thursday that he is too busy with the campaign to be deposed now.
“In good faith, counsel for Mr. Trump proposed multiple dates beginning shortly after the election — just two weeks later on November 19 — because of Mr. Trump’s extreme travel schedule and related unavailability between now and the election, and to avoid the use of his deposition attendance for political purposes,” the lawyers wrote.
James, a Democrat and vocal critic of the president, took legal action last month to enforce seven subpoenas seeking thousands of documents and testimony from multiple witnesses. She’s looking into whether Trump’s company falsely reported the value of his assets to secure loans and get tax benefits as claimed last year by the president’s former personal lawyer and fixer, Michael Cohen, who has fallen out with his ex-boss.
James didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
Trump, an executive vice president at Trump Organization, earlier backed out of a deposition with two day’s notice after complaining the civil probe was touching on possible criminal matters.
Trump further argued on Thursday that it is “well known” that most law enforcement agencies and regulators “studiously avoid certain actions within the 60-day period prior to a major election.”
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