Former President Donald Trump took the Fifth Amendment and declined to answer questions during a deposition last August, according to video released Tuesday by the New York attorney general's office.
Trump read a statement at the start of his taped deposition in the state attorney general's civil fraud investigation into the former president and the business practices of the Trump Organization.
"I once asked, 'If you're innocent, why are you taking the Fifth Amendment?' I was asking that question," he said during the August deposition. "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 even the fake news media, you really have no choice," Trump said, raising his oft-repeated claim that he is being unfairly targeted.
At the end of his statement, Trump said that, under the advice of counsel, he would "respectfully decline to answer the questions under the rights and privileges afforded to every citizen under the United States Constitution. This will be my answer to any further questions."
After Trump is asked whether he is generally familiar with his statements of financial condition between 2011 and the present, he tells the questioner, "For all of the reasons provided in my answer, which is incorporated herein in its entirety, I decline to answer the question." As the deposition continues, Trump responds with "same answer" to all of the later questions. The questioning lasted a reported four hours.
Under the Fifth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, no one "shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself." In September, the month after this deposition, New York Attorney General Leticia James filed a lawsuit against Trump, some of his children and the Trump Organization, alleging that the former president engaged in fraud to inflate his net worth and mislead banks and tax authorities on the value of his assets.
Read more by clicking the link in our bio. This post was produced and edited by Tim McPhillips, Dan Cooney, Julia Griffin and Yasmeen Alamiri.
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