Trump Organization investigation: New York prosecutor wants to question the former president

New York State Attorney General Letitia James intends to question former President Donald Trump on January 7 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, the prosecutor’s move is an unusual move, because her request for questioning overlaps with another investigation, of a criminal nature, conducted by Manhattan attorney Cyrus Vance Jr., also a Democrat, which aims to ascertain whether the Trump Organization has 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. Due to the overlap of the two investigations, observers believe that Trump’s lawyers may oppose James’s request, arguing that her 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 seeking visibility for her campaign for governor.