JUST IN: Trump Refuses to Answer Questions in Deposition With New York Attorney General, Pleading the Fifth

Sarah RumpfAug 10th, 2022, 10:43 am
 
donald trump with fists raised

Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images

Former President Donald Trump is being deposed by the New York Attorney General’s office Wednesday, and posted a long rambling statement on his Truth Social account saying that he pled the Fifth Amendment and attacking Attorney General Letitia James (D-NY).

Trump began the statement by criticizing James for campaigning “on the policy of ‘Get and Destroy Trump,'” calling the deposition “her despicable attempt to fulfill that cynical, and very corrupt promise.”

The investigation into Trump’s family and business had “wasted countless taxpayer dollars,” Trump continued, while “New York is suffering its worst murder, drug, and over crime rate in many decades.”

The statement went on at length attacking James’ political career and describing her as a “failed politician” and “renegade and out-of-control prosecutor,” and the investigation as “a vindictive and self-serving fishing expedition.”

The ex-president seemed to anticipate criticism regarding his past comments regarding the Fifth Amendment, as multiple Twitter users posted Wednesday morning.

“I once asked, ‘If you’re innocent, why are you taking the Fifth Amendment?'” Trump wrote. The answer, he said, was “[w]hen 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.”

He mentioned the search warrant the FBI executed on Mar-a-Lago Monday as another reason he had “absolutely no choice” because “the current Administration and many prosecutors in this Country have lost all moral and ethical bounds of decency.”

“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,” Trump concluded.

The full text of Trump’s statement:

Attorney General Letitia James openly campaigned on the policy of “Get and Destroy Trump.” This political attack on me, my family, and my great company is her despicable attempt to fulfill that cynical, and very corrupt promise. James developed a political platform and made a career out of maliciously attacking me and my business before she was even elected, or reviewed one of the millions of pages of documents we willingly produced. She proclaimed, “I look forward to going into the Office of Attorney General every day, suing him…. and then going home!” She announced, “what is fueling my soul right now is Trump”, and that she had her “eyes on Trump Tower.” She even assured her supporters in an Election promise that, “we’re going to definitely sue him. We’re going to be a real pain in the ass. He’s going to know my name personally”, and she claimed I was an “illegitimate President”. In her AG victory speech, she promised to “shine a bright light into every dark corner of Trump’s real estate holdings.” Shortly thereafter, she vowed to “use every area of the law to investigate President Trump and his business transactions, and that of his family as well.”

Letitia James is a failed politician who has intentionally colluded with others to carry out this phony years-long crusade that has wasted countless taxpayer dollars, all in an effort to prop up her political career. During her heated “Trump” rhetoric, she ran for Governor of New York State, using “Getting Trump” as her primary credential. It didn’t work, she got very low poll numbers, and ran back into the Office of Attorney General to continue the persecution of “President Donald J. Trump”, despite the fact that New York is suffering its worst murder, drug, and overall crime rate in many decades. Criminals are running rampant, shooting, slashing, and hurting people on the sidewalks of New York, while she and her Office spend a big percentage of their time and money on their “Trump” vendetta.

Letitia James openly stated her hostilities toward me, and a kind of retribution that is unthinkable. Years of work and tens of millions of dollars have been spent on this long simmering saga, and to no avail. James now realizes I built a great company with tremendous value, and her case is a “Scam”, which is why for years, they haven’t been able to file a single charge.

What Letitia James has tried to do the last three years is a disgrace to the legal system, an affront to New York State taxpayers, and a violation of the solemn rights and protections afforded by the United States Constitution. I did nothing wrong, which is why, after five years of looking, the Federal, State and local governments, together with the Fake News Media, have found nothing.

We cannot permit a renegade and out-of-control prosecutor to use this investigation as a means of advancing her political career. New York deserves better, and this Country deserves better. This is a vindictive and self-serving fishing expedition, the likes of which our Country has never seen before. The United States Constitution exists for this very purpose, and I will utilize it to the fullest extent to defend myself against this malicious attack by this administration, this Attorney General’s Office, and all other attacks on my family, my business, and our Country.

I once asked, “If you’re innocent, why are you taking the Fifth Amendment?” Now I know the answer to that question. 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. 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. I have absolutely no choice because the current Administration and many prosecutors in this Country have lost all moral and ethical bounds of decency.

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.

Tags:
Sarah Rumpf - Contributing Editor

Sarah Rumpf joined Mediaite in 2020 and is a Contributing Editor focusing on politics, law, and the media. A native Floridian, Sarah attended the University of Florida, graduating with a double major in Political Science and German, and earned her Juris Doctor, cum laude, from the UF College of Law. Sarah's writing has been featured at National Review, The Daily Beast, Reason, Law&Crime, Independent Journal Review, Texas Monthly, The Capitolist, Breitbart Texas, Townhall, RedState, The Orlando Sentinel, and the Austin-American Statesman, and her political commentary has led to appearances on television, radio, and podcast programs across the globe. Follow Sarah on Threads, Twitter, and Bluesky.