IThe New York State Attorney General, Letitia James, intends to question next January 7th the former president Donald Trump as part of a civil fraud investigation involving the Trump Organization. This was reported by various US media, including the Washington Post and the New York Times. James is a Democratic Party candidate for the post of state governor.
According to observers, that of the prosecutor is an unusual move, because his request for questioning it overlaps with another investigation, of a criminal nature, conducted by Manhattan attorney Cyrus Vance Jr., also a Democrat, who aims to ascertain whether Trump Organization intentionally inflated the value of its properties to obtain better financial conditions on the credit market.
If Attorney General James acquires sufficient evidence in the January 7 interrogation, she will be able to open legal proceedings against the former president, but not of a criminal nature. Precisely because of the overlap of the two investigations, observers believe Trump’s lawyers may object to James’s request, arguing that his testimony could be unlawfully used in the other criminal investigation conducted by Attorney Vance, violating the Fifth Amendment.
Even if a judge were to agree with James and authorize the ex-president’s interrogation, Trump’s lawyers could argue that James is simply looking for. visibility for his election campaign as governor.