New York AG Demands Trump Organization Hand Documents On Fraud Probe After Court Order

WASHINGTON (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 16th December, 2020) New York Attorney-General Letitia James said the Trump Organization must hand to her office, as ruled by a court, additional documents to aid an investigation into the holding company for the businesses of the president, who will be stepping down in January.

"A judge just ruled that the Trump Organization must turn over additional documents related to my office's ongoing investigation," James said via Twitter on Tuesday. "We will continue to follow the facts wherever they may lead us."

James' response came after the ABC network reported that a judge in New York rejected the US president's claim of attorney-client privilege to shield the documents from the state's top prosecutor.

In August, James announced that her office had taken action to force Trump's personal business organization to comply with investigations on whether he wrongfully altered the value of his assets to get loans and reduce taxes. Specifically, Eric Trump, the president's son and executive vice-president of the Trump Organization, had been ordered to comply with the request.

For months, the Trump Organization failed to fully comply with subpoenas filed by the attorney-general's office with regards to the probe that began after testimony to Congress by the president's now convicted personal attorney Michael Cohen.

After years of defending Trump, Cohen turned against him after being jailed in May 2019 for three years for multiple financial crimes, lying to Congress and for campaign finance violations related to hush money payments to two women who claim they had affairs with the US president.

James said the president's personal business company had stalled, withheld documents and instructed witnesses, including Eric Trump, to refuse to answer questions under oath.

Trump's latest legal challenge comes after the US Supreme Court ruled in July that he did not have broad immunity from a state grand jury subpoena. Trump, who lost the November 3 presidential election to Democrat Joe Biden, will leave office on January 20.

Born in New York City, the 74-year-old Trump was a resident of New York all his life until he moved out in 2019. He now claims Florida, where he owns a property on Palm Beach, as his permanent residence, though he most of his time at the White House in Washington, DC.