New York judge orders Trumps to comply with subpoenas from AG James

A Manhattan judge on Thursday ruled former President Donald Trump and two of his children must comply with subpoenas requiring them to answer questions from the New York state attorney general’s office.

In the eight-page ruling, New York County State Supreme Court Judge Arthur Engoron also ordered the former president to provide additional documentation requested by Attorney General Letitia James.

Donald J. Trump, Donald Trump, Jr., and Ivanka Trump must appear to answer questions within 21 days, the judge ordered. The additional documents must be submitted within 14 days.

The Trumps sought to quash the subpoenas against them in an investigation led by James’ office. That inquiry is a civil matter. However, last year James’ office said it was also conducting a criminal probe into the company.

However, Engoron wrote Thursday that targets of a “hybrid civil/criminal investigation cannot use the Fifth Amendment as both a sword and a shield” in their case.

“When they are deposed, the New Trump Respondents will have the right to refuse to answer any questions that they claim might incriminate them, and that refusal may not be commented on or used against them in a criminal prosecution,” the judge wrote. “However, there is no unfairness in allowing the jurors in a civil case to know these refusals and to draw their own conclusions.”

James has been investigating the Trumps and the company over allegations it intentionally adjusted certain properties' values to gain favorable rates for insurance policies, interest rates on loans or taxes.

James said “justice prevailed” in the ruling in a statement Thursday.

“No one will be permitted to stand in the way of the pursuit of justice, no matter how powerful they are. No one is above the law,” she said.

Besides trying to block the subpoenas in state court, the former president and his company have also filed a federal suit against James.