Donald Trump and children subpoenaed by New York attorney general in family business probe

United States' former President Donald Trump and his two eldest children, Ivanka and Donald Trump Jr., were subpoenaed by the office of New York's attorney general on January 3, requesting their testimony in an inquiry into the family's business operations. Attorney General Letitia James' lawyers stated in a court statement that they are seeking the Trumps' testimony and documents as part of a years-long civil investigation into the valuation of assets owned or managed by Trump and his firm.

Investigators probing the former president's activities sought information from Ivanka Trump and Donald Trump Jr., both valued allies of their father and executives in his family's Trump Organization, according to the document, which was made public for the first time on January 3. It was reported last month that James' office had asked Trump to sit for a deposition.

Trumps will fight the subpoenas

James, a Democrat, has spent more than two years investigating whether the Trump Organization lied to banks and tax officials about the worth of assets, either inflating them to get better loan conditions or undervaluing them to save money on taxes. The Trumps have stated that they will fight the subpoenas and that they will submit court filings through their lawyers to have them dismissed. Last year, when James' office subpoenaed the testimony of another Trump son, Eric Trump, a similar legal battle erupted.

Last month, Trump filed a federal lawsuit against James, hoping to put a halt to her inquiry. Trump alleged that James had violated his constitutional rights in a thinly-veiled endeavour to publicly defame Trump and his associates in the lawsuit. A state court judge who has heard arguments over the subpoenas, which also demand records from the Trumps in addition to their testimony, agreed Monday to hear arguments.

Trump had called James' investigation, a witch hunt in the past

In the past, the Republican ex-president has referred to James' investigation as a witch hunt that is being conducted in tandem with a criminal investigation being conducted by the Manhattan district attorney's office. After his lawyers abruptly cancelled a previously arranged deposition, James' office moved to court last year to enforce a subpoena on Eric Trump, a Trump Organization executive, and a judge obliged him to testify.

The same judge, Arthur Engoron, has previously ruled to enforce subpoenas issued in connection with the Trump investigation, including ordering Trump's corporation and a legal firm it hired to hand up troves of information linked to a Trump-owned estate north of Manhattan. Despite the fact that the civil inquiry is separate from the criminal investigation conducted by the district attorney, James' office has been involved in both.

Image: AP