After his historic arraignment at the Manhattan Criminal Court just last week, Donald Trump is once again scheduled to board a plane to New York City, this time for his second deposition involving NYC Attorney General Letitia James’ $250 million civil fraud lawsuit.
The deposition will take place on Thursday, according to sources close to ABC News. The former president is facing allegations of financial fraud for misstating the value of his assets and his net worth. Such assets include his Trump Tower, Mar-a-Lago golf resort, Scotland golf course, Trump Turnberry, and 40 Wall Street.
The last time Trump was deposed, on Aug. 10, 2022, he invoked the Fifth Amendment more than 400 times, according to CNN. From around 9:30am to 3:00pm, the former president sat across from James and repeated “same answer” over and over again. The only question he answered was about his name.
Like his recent indictment involving hush money payments to former porn star Stormy Daniels, Trump has called his $250 million civil fraud lawsuit “the greatest witch hunt in the history of our country.” Last August, Trump’s two children Ivanka Trump and Donald Trump Jr., also sat for depositions. It’s unclear whether they will be present on Thursday.
It was speculated whether the Manhattan grand jury’s decision to indict Trump on 34 charges of criminal tax fraud would affect James’ $250 million civil fraud lawsuit, but the NYC Attorney General says it won’t. “No, it won’t have any impact,” James said in an interview with Spectrum News 1 in the days leading up to the historic arraignment. “We go to trial in October.”