The Trump family just admitted how much trouble it’s in
Last month New York Attorney General Letitia James subpoenaed Donald Trump to testify in her civil probe into the Trump Organization’s financial dealings. At the time we explained that James would win whether Trump testified or not. If he showed up and tried to provide a defense for the Trump Organization financial schemes, he would risk unwittingly saying something incriminating that could be used in New York’s parallel criminal probe into him. And if he failed to show up, James could use his refusal to defend his company’s fraudulent finances as grounds for finding the Trump Organization culpable and beginning to seize its assets.
Yesterday Letitia James got the new year off to a roaring start by subpoenaing Donald Trump Jr. and Ivanka Trump to testify in that same civil probe into the Trump Organization. The two Trump kids, along with Donald Trump, responded by immediately filing in court to try to block the subpoenas. Notably, in that filing, they asserted that they shouldn’t have to testify in the civil case because it could be used against them in the parallel criminal case. In other words, the Trump family really does understand how much trouble it’s in – and it’s admitting as much in court filings, because this is now way past the point of worrying about appearances.
We’ll see what the courts end up saying. But given how swiftly the courts have been ruling of late on other investigations into the Trumps (for instance the January 6th Committee and the National Archives), we expect this to be resolved swiftly. And given that James is the type to do her legal homework before subpoenaing someone, we suspect the courts will rule in favor of her moves.
In any case, it’s becoming more clear that New York intends to seize Trump Organization assets in its civil probe, and that it intends to criminally indict Donald Trump in its criminal probe. This was always going to be the inevitable most likely outcome, ever since Trump was named the loser of the election. Now it’s a matter of the Trump family making its endgame desperation moves and deciding how it wants to lose.
