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In a New York civil case where the former president and three of his children are charged with corporate fraud, Donald Trump testified for several hours on Thursday while under oath.
The secret deposition was conducted a week after Trump was historically charged with a crime in a Manhattan courtroom during a different case.
The 76-year-old Republican is the subject of numerous state, federal, and congressional investigations that might make it more difficult for him to win the president back in the 2020 election.
It was his second appearance in the protracted deposition in the case launched by Letitia James, the attorney general of the state of New York.
Trump left James’ office in lower Manhattan at 6:00 pm and returned to Trump Tower on Fifth Avenue around 10:00 am (1400 GMT).
In advance of his testimony, he penned a statement on his social media page Truth Social calling the civil case “ridiculous, just like all of the other Election Interference cases being brought against me.”
Both a Trump attorney and a James representative did not respond to demands for comment.
In September of last year, James filed a lawsuit against Donald Trump, Donald Trump Jr., Eric Trump, and Ivanka Trump on the grounds that they had engaged in “incredible” fraud at the Trump Organisation.
Her lawsuit alleges that they deceived tax authorities, lenders, and insurers for years as part of a plan to profit themselves by routinely inflating the worth of the organization’s assets.
— “Witch hunt”
Providing misleading asset appraisals and dishonest assertions of Trump’s net worth, according to James, was done “to obtain and satisfy loans, get insurance benefits, and pay lower taxes.”
The case has been referred to as a “witch hunt” by Trump, the front-runner for the Republican nomination in the upcoming presidential election.
In the investigation in August, just before James filed her case, he made an appearance and was questioned for six hours.
Trump rejected 34 criminal charges relating to hush money payments made to porn star Stormy Daniels just before the 2016 election that propelled him to power in a dramatic court appearance last Tuesday that riveted the nation.
He became the first president—past or present—to be accused of a crime.
Republican officials, including congressional leaders who have requested Manhattan’s Democratic district attorney Alvin Bragg to appear before Congress regarding the investigation, have virtually universally condemned that case.
Her case cannot give rise to any criminal accusations; the trial is scheduled for later this year.
Trump is also under investigation for his attempts to have his Georgia election loss from 2020 overturned, for allegedly handling confidential materials that were seized from the White House, and for his alleged participation in the January 6, 2021 storming of the US Capitol.
Later this month, a civil trial for a complaint E. Jean Carroll, a former magazine columnist, filed against Trump alleging sexual assault and defamation will begin in New York.
