New York Attorney General Demands Eric Trump Testimony After President’s Son Flouts Subpoena

New York Attorney General Letitia James is taking firmer action to get testimony from Eric Trump, after the president’s son denied seven subpoenas and refused to turn over Trump Organization documents. On Monday, James asked the New York state court to compel the organization to turn over the document her office has requested and to compel the younger Trump to give testimony.

“At dispute are seven subpoenas which would provide the Office of the Attorney General (OAG) with thousands of documents and testimony from multiple witnesses regarding several, specific Trump Organization properties and transactions,” James explained in a statement. Among other things, the action seeks to compel the testimony of Trump Organization Executive Vice President Eric Trump, who was intimately involved in one or more transactions under review, as well as the production of thousands of documents wrongly withheld.”

James has been pursuing a case against the Trump Organization since May 2019, after Michael Cohen, President Donald Trump’s former attorney, provided copies of the president’s financial statements from 2011 to 2013. In the statements, it appeared that Trump had erroneously inflated the worth of certain things and deflated others in order to manipulate his ability to receive loans and the amount that he would be taxed for real estate holdings.

Eric Trump, in addition to his role as executive vice president, is also the one responsible for the Trump Organization’s records. While he initially agreed to sit for testimony in July, he backed out of the agreement at the last minute. Since then, he and the organization have refused to cooperate with the attorney general’s inquiry until they received assurance that it would not be for a criminal investigation.

“Nothing will stop us from following the facts and the law, wherever they may lead. For months, the Trump Organization has made baseless claims in an effort to shield evidence from a lawful investigation into its financial dealings,” James added. “They have stalled, withheld documents, and instructed witnesses, including Eric Trump, to refuse to answer questions under oath. That’s why we've filed a motion to compel the Trump Organization to comply with our office’s lawful subpoenas for documents and testimony.”