Last summer, former President Donald Trump sat down with New York Attorney General Letitia James, who was wrapping up a three-year investigation into financial wrongdoing at the Trump Organization.
She was the first to address him during the Aug. 10 deposition and asked Trump if he understood how his testimony could be used against him.
“Do you understand that?” she asked.
“I think,” Trump replied.
“Is that a yes?” she asked.
“I don’t know what I did wrong,” Trump said. “But the answer is yes, I do understand.”
What You Need To Know
- Newly released video shows former President Donald Trump sparring with New York Attorney General Letitia James during his deposition last August
- Trump read a statement attacking James, then declined to answer hundreds of questions during the hours-long proceeding
- In September, James filed a civil suit alleging that the Trump Organization committed financial fraud by misstating the value of assets
- The attorney general is seeking $250 million in payments plus other sanctions; the case is slated to go to trial in October
Video of the proceeding was released for the first time Tuesday. The deposition was part of the attorney general’s investigation into Trump’s business practices, which resulted in a civil suit alleging that the Trump Organization committed financial fraud by misstating the value of assets.
Trump, near the beginning of his deposition, read a six-and-a-half minute statement, repeating familiar lines of attack against James.
“This is the greatest witch hunt in the history of our country,” he said. “What Letitia James has tried to do the last number of years is a disgrace to the legal system, an affront to the New York taxpayers.”
He also attacked his former attorney, Michael Cohen, who turned on Trump. “This is a witness — a stone-cold loser, real loser — that she used to justify her obsessive work,” Trump said.
But once an attorney from James’ office began questioning him on the facts of the case, Trump invoked his right against self-incrimination.
“Anyone in my position not taking the Fifth Amendment would be a fool — an absolute fool,” he said, then spent hours listening to detailed questions and giving no response.
“I decline to answer the question,” Trump said. Then, in response to further questions, he repeated again and again: “Same answer.”
The attorney general’s case is now slated for trial in October. Meanwhile, the Trump Organization was recently convicted of charges related to tax fraud, and its former chief financial officer, Allen Weisselberg, sentenced to five months in jail.
Trump faces legal jeopardy on several other fronts, including the Manhattan District Attorney’s investigation into alleged hush money payments to Stormy Daniels, who said she had an affair with Trump, a case that is reportedly being presented to a grand jury this week.