The New York attorney general’s office has issued subpoenas to siblings Donald Trump Jr. and Ivanka Trump. A court filing revealed Monday that a civil investigation is underway, probing Trump Organization, the company owned by former President Donald Trump and operated by his children.
The investigation is focused on allegations that the Trump Organization lied about the value of various properties in order to receive financial benefits. The goal of the subpoenas is to induce the Trump siblings to discuss, under oath, the valuations of real estate assets by Trump Organization. Their brother, Eric Trump, underwent this process last year after he lost a legal battle to delay his interview until after the 2020 election.
The documents were filed by the office of New York Attorney General Letitia James. James was already known to be pursuing having the ex-president questioned under oath. However, it was not previously known that she would also seek to question Donald Jr. or Ivanka.
Donald Jr. and Eric both run the Trump Organization. Ivanka served as a White House senior adviser during the Trump administration.
Donald Trump, Donald Jr. and Ivanka are all disputing the subpoenas. Last month, Donald Sr. sued James, hoping to block her investigation. His suit makes various arguments against James, who is a Democrat, including the claim that her investigation is influenced by her political bias against the Republican Trump family.
James released a statement in response to the allegations, saying that such suits only seek to delay justice. “The Trump Organization has continually sought to delay our investigation into its business dealings and now Donald Trump and his namesake company have filed a lawsuit as an attempted collateral attack on that investigation,” she said.
The Monday filing outlines a schedule for the lawyers of all three Trumps to file motions impeding the subpoenas, and for James’s office to respond to the motions. The Trumps’ lawyers agreed to the schedule. Judge Author Engoron authorized the schedule.
The Manhattan District Attorney’s Office is conducting a criminal investigation in collaboration with the civil investigation by James’s office. Both inquiries will analyze the Trump Organization’s allegedly fraudulent valuation of real estate property.
