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Donald Trump says he invoked his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination while being questioned by the New York Attorney General’s office.
The embattled former president appeared in New York City Wednesday for a deposition regarding Attorney General Letitia James’ investigation into the Trump Organization, which Trump has called a “vindictive and self-serving fishing expedition.”
“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,” Trump wrote in a message posted to social media site Truth Social.
In his lengthy statement, Trump explained the raid on his Mar-A-Lago resort just two days earlier convinced him James’ investigation was politically motivated, and detailed why on the advice of his attorneys he pled the Fifth throughout questioning.
“I once asked, ‘If you’re innocent, why are you taking the Fifth Amendment?’ 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 wrote.
Here’s a video from 2016 of Trump discussing the Fifth Amendment:
“You see the mob takes the Fifth. If you’re innocent, why are you taking the Fifth Amendment?”
— Shannon Watts (@shannonrwatts) August 10, 2022
“If there was any question in my mind, the raid of my home Mar-A-Lago, on Monday by the FBI, just two days prior to this deposition, wiped out any uncertainty. I have absolutely no choice because the current Administration and many prosecutors in this Country have lost all moral and ethical bounds of decency.”
“Accordingly,” he continued, “under the advice of my counsel and for all of the above reasons, I declined to answer the questions under the rights and privileges afforded to every citizen under the United States Constitution.”
Earlier in the day, Trump described sitting inside the “very plush, beautiful and expensive AG’s office,” and remarked, “people are being murdered all over New York – and she spends her time and effort on trying to ‘get Trump.’”
Trump’s questioning comes after FBI agents conducted a pre-dawn raid on his Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach, Florida, Monday, confiscating several boxes which they believe may contain classified documents that violate the 1978 Presidential Records Act.