Former President Trump announced he had invoked his Fifth Amendment rights during a deposition from the New York attorney general on Wednesday, joining a number of prominent Republicans in his orbit who have chosen to remain silent during recent subpoenas to testify .
The former president was subpoenaed as part of NY AG Letitia James’ (D) investigation into his business and financial dealings.
Despite multiple attempts to resist the investigation and subpoena, Trump reportedly arrived at the office Wednesday morning. There, he refused to answer questions, asserting his Fifth Amendment rights nearly 450 times, according to NBC.
The Fifth Amendment gives Americans certain rights in legal proceedings, including the protection that no one can be “compelled in any criminal case to testify against himself.”
Although the amendment refers specifically to criminal proceedings, the protection is interpreted to apply to witnesses in a broad sense.
“I once asked, ‘If you’re innocent, why do you accept the Fifth Amendment?'” Now I know the answer to that question, Trump wrote in a statement on his website 45office.com on Wednesday.
“When your family, your company and everyone in your orbit has become the target of a baseless, politically motivated witch hunt supported by lawyers, prosecutors and the fake news media, you have no choice.”
The civil investigation is looking into whether the former president misled investors, insurers and tax authorities about the value of the Trump Organization, inflating the value to attract investment and then lowering it to get tax breaks and loan benefits.
But Trump is also being scrutinized by the House Special Committee looking into the January 6, 2021 attacks on the US Capitol, as well as by the Department of Justice (DOJ), which has focused its investigation on Trump after facing pressure from Jan. 6 deputies from the commission to criminally investigate the former president.
Several witnesses have been subpoenaed before the House committee and elsewhere on the Jan. 6 riots and the Trump camp’s efforts to challenge and overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election — a number have already asked the Fifth to avoid responding to the queries.
Eric Trump
The former president’s son, Eric Trump, was questioned as part of the NY AG’s investigation in 2020 after efforts to delay the testimony failed.
According to The New York Times, Eric Trump addressed Petya with more than 500 questions related to his role as executive vice president of the Trump Organization.
He and his father have long accused James of a political vendetta against the former president and dismissed the investigation as politically motivated.
Two of Trump’s other children, Ivanka Trump and Donald Trump Jr., were subpoenaed in the NY AG’s investigation earlier this year. Their questioning was originally scheduled for mid-July, but James agreed to postpone it when the former president’s first wife, Ivana Trump, died the day before.
Ivanka and Donald Trump Jr. testified earlier this month.
Roger Stone
Political consultant Roger Stone was one of several Trump allies subpoenaed to testify before a House committee on Jan. 6 and invoke the Fifth Amendment to avoid answering questions.
Stone was sentenced to prison as part of former special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election. He was pardoned by the former president days before his sentence was to expire.
Stone was called before the committee because of his ties to Trump and his involvement in the Jan. 6 riots, during which he reportedly used far-right militia members as his personal bodyguards.
Before the committee on Jan. 6, Stone invoked his Fifth Amendment rights at every question in a 90-minute statement, CNN reported.
Michael Flynn
The Jan. 6 panel also subpoenaed former national security adviser Michael Flynn, seeking information about a December 2020 meeting in which a number of people in the Oval Office allegedly discussed the 2020 presidential election and unsubstantiated allegations of fraud.
Flynn tried to sue the committee, but eventually showed up and took the fifth during questioning. He refused to even answer whether he believed in a peaceful transition of power, according to CNN.
After he testified, Flynn’s lawyers released a statement accusing the commission of implying that “General Flynn’s decision to refuse to answer their questions constituted an admission of guilt” and calling the investigation “political theater designed to create a false narrative based on the commission’s error view of the 5th amendment.
John Eastman
Conservative attorney John Eastman, who advised Trump and then-Vice President Mike Pence on overturning the 2020 presidential results, reportedly referred to the Fifth dozens of times during a Jan. 6 appearance before the committee.
Eastman helped craft the plan to push Pence to block congressional certification of the Jan. 6, 2021, presidential election.
He also appeared with Trump at the Jan. 6 rally at the Ellipse, from which the rioters marched toward the Capitol.
Eastman later sought a pardon from then-President Trump.
The Justice Department announced in late July that it had obtained Eastman’s phone records.
Geoffrey Clarke
Former Justice Department official Jeffrey Clark was the first witness to testify before the commission on January 6.
The committee initially voted to bring Clark into contempt of Congress prosecution by the DOJ after he resisted the subpoena.
The commission then met again with Clark after his lawyer announced he would assert his right against self-incrimination.
Clark reportedly attempted to send a letter informing Georgia officials of the Department of Justice’s nonexistent concerns about the state’s 2020 presidential election results, according to the New York Times.
In July, Clark was charged with an ethics violation by the District of Columbia Office of Disciplinary Counsel for his involvement in efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 election.
Alex Jones
The far-right radio host advertised that he had pleaded with Petya “almost 100 times” during questioning by the commission on January 6 earlier this year.
Jones told NBC News that “that’s fine” that he did not respond to any inquiries, expressing caution that his testimony could be used against him.
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Jones is said to have been involved in the planning and financing of the 6 Jan.
He initially sued House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and the committee since Jan. 6 over the subpoena, resisting a subpoena to testify and the committee’s efforts to obtain his phone records.
Jones’ phone records were reportedly turned over to the commission after his legal team mistakenly sent them to lawyers in a separate defamation case against him.
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