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Donald Trump on Wednesday declined to answer questions under oath in New York over alleged fraud at his family business, as legal pressures pile up for the former president whose house was raided by the FBI just two days ago.
Trump said he had “no choice” but to invoke the fifth amendment, which allows individuals to remain silent to protect against self-incrimination under questioning.
In a statement Trump said “I declined to answer the questions under the rights and privileges afforded to every citizen under the United States Constitution,” saying he took the advice from his legal counsel.
“When your family, your company, and all the people in your orbit have become the targets of an unfounded, politically motivated Witch Hunt supported by lawyers, prosecutors, and the Fake News Media, you have no choice,” Trump said.
“If there was any question in my mind, the raid of my home, Mar-a-Lago, on Monday by the FBI, just two days prior to this deposition, wiped out any uncertainty.”
Trump earlier said on social media he was in the offices of New York Attorney General Letitia James, whose investigation is one of several active probes into the brash billionaire’s business practices and other actions.
The former president took to his Truth Social platform to launch a barrage of attacks on James, branding her a “racist” attorney general who is “trying to ‘get Trump.'”
James is conducting “a continuation of the greatest Witch Hunt in U.S. history!” Trump wrote. “My great company, and myself, are being attacked from all sides. Banana Republic!”
James suspects the Trump Organization fraudulently overstated the value of real estate properties when applying for bank loans, while understating them with the tax authorities in order to pay less in taxes.
Trump and his eldest children, Donald Jr and Ivanka, had been due to start…
Source : france24
