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Donald Trump was heard all day Thursday, April 13, 2023 in New York in a future civil trial for which he is accused of fraud within the Trump Organization, a week after his historic indictment in another case.
The former US president, who intends to win back the White House in 2024, responded under oath and out of sight in the offices of New York State Attorney General Letitia James, where he arrived in the middle morning in a black vehicle, noted AFP journalists.
$250 million in compensation
Welcomed by a handful of supporters and opponentswho were kept at a distance by a security device, the Republican billionaire did not leave the building, located near Wall Street, until the early evening to return in a black vehicle to the Trump Tower, further north on the Manhattan Island.
The Attorney General, elected as a Democrat, filed a civil lawsuit in September against Donald Trump and three of his childrenclaiming 250 million dollars in compensation from them and demanding prohibitions against them from running businesses.
Letitia James accuses the Republican billionaire and his children of “astonishing fraud”, in his words, having “deliberately” manipulated the valuations of the group’s assets to obtain more advantageous loans from banks or reduce his taxes.
A “ridiculous” affair
Golf clubs, Trump Tower in New York, Mar-a-Lago residence in Palm Beach, Florida… the services of Letitia James listed these disputed assessments in a 222-page complaintwhich also targets Donald Trump Jr, Ivanka Trump and Eric Trump.
Hearings under oath and in camera may take place as part of the procedure, before the actual start of the trial, currently set for October. Donald Trump has always refuted these irregularities.
On his Truth Social network, he called the case of “ridiculous”, “like all the other cases of electoral interference of which I am the subject”. But the former president sees court cases pile up on the road to the primary for the Republican nomination.
34 suspected accounting and tax frauds
In addition to his historic indictment, criminal this time, in early April in New York, Donald Trump also remains in the sights of justice for his alleged involvement in an attempt to reverse the results of the 2020 presidential election in its favor in Georgia, and on his role in the storming of the Capitol by his supporters, on January 6, 2021.
In his message on Truth Social, Donald Trump also called Letitia James, an African-American prosecutor, a “racist”, as he calls Manhattan prosecutor Alvin Bragg, also African-American, who indicted him a “racist”. .
The 76-year-old billionaire had already responded to a summons last August, but had invoked throughout the hearing his right to remain silent, under the 5th Amendment of the American Constitution.
On April 4, Donald Trump was criminally charged with 34 suspected accounting and tax frauds, linked to payments to cover up three embarrassing affairs before the 2016 presidential election, including a sexual relationship with porn actress Stormy Daniels that he has always denied. This indictment was a first for a former US president.
Source : © 2023 AFP
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