“It is a continuation of the greatest Witch Hunt in history — and remember, I can't get a fair hearing in New York because of the hatred of me by Judges and the judiciary. It is not possible!" So said the most whiny purveyor of grievance after NY State Judge Arthur Engeron ruled that Donald, Donny, and Ivanka must hand over documents requested by NY Attorney General Letitia James within 14 days and sit for depositions within 21 days.
In response to claims that James was motivated by political bias or that Donald’s constitutional rights were being violated, the judge stated that, “a State Attorney General commences investigating a business entity, uncovers copious evidence of possible financial fraud, and wants to question, under oath, several of the entities' principals, including its namesake. She has the clear right to do so."
Engeron said that the three of the them “have an absolute right to refuse to answer questions that they claim may incriminate them” and pointed out that “respondent Eric Trump invoked his right against self-incrimination in response to more than 500 questions during his one-day deposition arising out of the instant proceeding.” The problem for Donald, Donny, and Ivanka is that invoking the Fifth Amendment operates differently in civil suits. In criminal cases, you can refuse to answer questions in order to avoid self-incrimination and no inferences of guilt may be drawn. In civil proceedings, to the contrary, pleading the Fifth can lead to Adverse Inferences, which means a defendant’s silence can be considered damning.
Under the circumstances, it’s worth revisiting what Donald had to say in 2016: “If you’re innocent, why are you taking the Fifth Amendment? The mob takes the Fifth.” Good to know.
Judge Engeron’s ruling, which Donald, et al. will almost certainly appeal (running out the clock seems to be his only strategy at this point—and let’s face it, it’s worked well for him until now), was handed down just days after The Trump Organization was “fired” by it’s accounting firm, Mazar’s. In a letter, the firm declared that the Organization’s financial statements from 2011 to 2020 "should no longer be relied upon."
There is also a criminal investigation pending in the NY District Attorney’s office regarding the same allegations of financial fraud James’ office is looking into.
Just Security laid out the astonishing scope of ongoing legal cases now facing Donald—seventeen civil and four criminal—all of which are proceeding apace and many of which may be decided within the year. Maybe. [By the way, this doesn’t even include his many violations of the Presidential Records Act that we’ve recently learned about.]
P.S. This also just happened:
I’ve witnessed too many close calls and bad calls to be sanguine about how all of this turns out. Are the walls closing in? Perhaps, but it feels like they have been, albeit slowly (understatement, I know), since the 1980s. So I want to look at this situation another way:
Do you think the depth and breadth of Donald’s criminality, and the fact that so many cases are being brought in so many jurisdictions at approximately the same time, is a liability for us? In other words, do you think it will help Donald sell the narrative to his base that it all really is a “Witch Hunt,” and a vast, coordinated Deep State conspiracy against him?
If so, what kind of counter-narrative should be deployed in order to combat that lie?
BONUS QUESTION: Do you think Donald will be held accountable? If so, for what and how?
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