Fifth Amendment

Former U.S. President Donald Trump leaves Trump Tower to meet with New York Attorney General Letitia James for a civil investigation on August 10, 2022 in New ...

Legal experts say Trump's lawyers are in possession of a copy of that search warrant and that they can disclose its contents if they choose. In other words, James could argue to a jury that it should assume Trump has conceded her claims against him by refusing to answer her questions. But after failing in court efforts to block those subpoenas, Donald Jr. and Ivanka answered questions from James' investigators last week, NBC previously reported. "So there are five people taking the Fifth Amendment. Like you see on the mob, right? Fischetti described the mood in the room as polite and not tense. In Georgia, a special state grand jury is investigating possible criminal efforts by Trump and others to interfere in the 2020 presidential election in that state as part of a nationwide push to overturn Biden's victory in the race for the White House. On Tuesday, a federal appeals court in Washington, D.C., upheld a lower court ruling dismissing an effort by Trump to block the House Ways and Means Committee from obtaining several years of his federal income tax returns and those of a number of Trump business entities from the Treasury Department. In addition to the probe of records at Mar-a-Lago, the Justice Department is reportedly investigating events leading to the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot by thousands of Trump supporters, who for hours disrupted the confirmation of Biden's electoral victory by a joint session of Congress. The warrant and a related affidavit in support of it would detail what the FBI was looking for and how the agency believed there was probable cause that a crime or crimes had been committed that related to that evidence. Our investigation continues." But Engoron went on to note that a jury in a civil case is allowed to draw "a negative inference" when a party to the case "invokes that right against self-incrimination." Former President Donald Trump invoked his Fifth Amendment right more than 440 times Wednesday in refusing to answer questions at a deposition by lawyers for New York Attorney General Letitia James, who is investigating the Trump Organization's business practices, a source with knowledge of the session told NBC News.

Donald Trump invoked his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination during a deposition before lawyers from the New York Attorney General's Office.

"Attorney General Letitia James took part in the deposition during which Mr. Trump invoked his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination." Our investigation continues,” the spokesperson for her office said Wednesday. NBC News reported Trump Jr. was interviewed a couple of weeks ago and Ivanka spoke to investigators last week. Trump's two eldest children, Donald Trump Jr. and Ivanka Trump, recently testified in the civil probe. "Now I know the answer to that question. Accordingly, under the advice of my counsel and for all of the above reasons, I declined to answer the questions under the rights and privileges afforded to every citizen under the United States Constitution."

The former president declined to answer questions from the office of the New York State attorney general, Letitia James, who leads one of a number of ...

Mr. Trump has also opined on the pros and cons of a president answering questions under oath. The judge, Arthur F. Engoron, sided with Ms. James and ordered the Trumps to testify, a ruling that an appellate court upheld. It was an embarrassing two-week episode that compelled Mr. Trump to pay a $110,000 penalty. Mr. Trump has long dismissed the inquiry from Ms. James, and fought hard against sitting for questioning under oath, but was compelled to do so after multiple judges ruled against him this spring. Mr. Trump’s legal team had not alerted the attorney general that he planned to invoke his Fifth Amendment rights. Mr. Trump has ridiculed witnesses who have refused to answer questions, once remarking at a rally that refusing to answer questions under oath was an indication of guilt relied upon by the mafia. In the statement, he called Ms. James, who was sitting a few feet away, a “renegade prosecutor.” (In fact, he has exercised his Fifth Amendment right before, refusing to answer questions in a deposition taken in connection with his divorce from his first wife, Ivana Trump.) For years, Mr. Trump has treated everything that happens on a legal front with his business as a potential opportunity to shape public perception. Two days after his home was searched by the F.B.I. in an unrelated investigation, Mr. Trump invoked his Fifth Amendment right while openly questioning the legitimacy of the legal process — as he has with the nation’s electoral system — and insulting a law enforcement official sitting just a few feet away. The search was an embarrassing reminder of the multiple inquiries swirling around the former president in connection with his conduct in the final weeks of his presidency. Ms. James is now left with a crucial decision: whether to sue Mr. Trump, or seek a settlement that could extract a significant financial penalty.

Former President Donald Trump invoked the Fifth Amendment during questioning by the New York attorney general's office a.

A biography of Trump said he took the Fifth Amendment in his 1990 divorce case. Trump is at the center of multiple investigations that are years in the making, and we don’t yet know whether he will be charged with any crimes. At an Iowa rally, Trump said: "Her staffers taking the Fifth Amendment, how about that?" "Individuals have a right to assert the Fifth to avoid making comments that may be incriminating. "They claim that even though they have nothing to hide, a prosecutor will be able to use the testimony against them in an unfair way to charge or convict them of something they did not do. He faces criminal investigations by the Justice Department and Fulton County prosecutors in Georgia. Earlier this week, the FBI executed a search warrant at his Mar-a-Lago estate. Trump said: "And I’m not even sure that he shouldn't have just gone and taken the Fifth Amendment and said, ‘Look, I don't get along with this man, Starr. He's after me. In 2016, he repeatedly criticized Hillary Clinton’s aides for taking the Fifth Amendment over questions about her emails. This is almost always an unfounded claim; there are very few cases in this country of a prosecutor ‘targeting’ an individual or acting in bad faith to use a person's testimony against them. 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. I have absolutely no choice because the current administration and many prosecutors in this country have lost all moral and ethical bounds of decency. The amendment protects against self-incrimination.

Former President Donald Trump leaves Trump Tower to meet with New York Attorney General Letitia James for a civil investigation on Aug. 10, 2022 in New York ...

New York Attorney General Letitia James has personally implicated Trump and members of his family in the alleged fraud. The Jan. 6 committee is continuing to scrutinize their potential role in the Capitol attack, as is the Justice Department. The DA’s office in Fulton County, Georgia, is also investigating Trump and his allies’ alleged effort to tamper with the state’s election results. The two offices are collaborating, and so anything Trump says under oath on Wednesday could aide the DA’s investigation, which has been fraught. Trump confirmed he would be testifying while railing against the investigation in a Truth Social post on Tuesday. “In New York City tonight. Seeing racist N.Y.S. Attorney General tomorrow, for a continuation of the greatest Witch Hunt in U.S. history!” he wrote. "I once asked, 'If you’re innocent, why are you taking the Fifth Amendment?' Now I know the answer to that question."