Former President Donald Trump said he invoked his Fifth Amendment rights during his deposition with New York Attorney General Letitia James.
In a Wednesday statement, Trump said “I declined to answer the questions under the rights and privileges afforded to every citizen under the United States Constitution.”
“I once asked, ‘If you’re innocent, why are you taking the Fifth Amendment?'” he continued. “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 the Fake News Media, you have no choice,” he continued.
The former president wrote that the FBI’s raid of his Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach, Florida, “wiped out any uncertainty” about cooperating.
“I have absolutely no choice because the current Administration and many prosecutors in this Country have lost all moral and ethical bounds of decency,” he explained.
As part of James’ investigation, Trump is the last member of his family to be deposed. Ivanka Trump and Donald Trump Jr. were deposed earlier this month, reported Fox News.
Attorneys for James’ office have said they have evidence that Trump and his company used “fraudulent and misleading financial statements” to inflate the valuations of assets while seeking loans and tax benefits.
“What Letitia James has tried to do the last three years is a disgrace to the legal system, an affront to New York State taxpayers, and a violation of the solemn rights and protections afforded by the United States Constitution,” the former president said.
“We cannot permit a renegade and out-of-control prosecutor to use this investigation as a means of advancing her political career. New York deserves better, and this Country deserves better. This is a vindictive and self-serving fishing expedition, the likes of which our Country has never seen before,” the statement read.
Trump’s office also shared a video on Rumble that showed various clips of James attacking Trump, often calling him an “illegitimate president.”
