New York Attorney General Letitia James’ Office was forced to request the state Supreme Court judge overseeing her $250 million fraud case against Donald Trump help resolve the failure of the ex-president, his three eldest adult children, and the Trump Organization to hand over documents required for discovery.
James’ Office (OAG) notably “singled out ‘an unexplained drop-off in emails for Ivanka Trump’ as one of the more significant issues,” reports Forbes.
The Attorney General also asked Judge Arthur Engoron to require the Trumps complete a “compliance affidavit.”
“OAG believes this proposed order is necessary given Defendants’ failure to preserve, collect and produce documents and materials in a timely and transparent fashion,” the letter reads. “While we have recently begun receiving documents responsive to our discovery demands, Defendants have provided no timeline for the completion of their production, and more concerningly have not answered questions about the custodians, sources and means used to undertake their production.”
“For months,” the letter continues, her office “has been seeking an explanation for gaps in the productions made by the Trump Organization. Many of these issues date back to the underlying investigation that preceded this action and involved the collection and search of devices and databases.”
The letter also claims the Trumps have “either ignored the inquiries, provided non-substantive responses, or passed the buck to counsel no longer engaged in the case.” She is asking “for Defendants to provide sworn certifications detailing the process they followed for preserving, searching and producing documents in response to OAG discovery notices.”
James’ Office also points to a letter from September of last year in which she expressed concern over Ivanka Trump’s drop in production of documents.
“In the first nine months of 2014, Ms. Trump is on an average of 1,218 emails per month. That drops to just 299 emails in October 2014 with an average of 242 emails through December 2015. In 2016 she averages just 37 emails per month.”
As CNBC explains, the New York Attorney General’s suit “accuses Trump of repeatedly overstating the values of his assets in statements to banks, insurance companies and the IRS in order to obtain better loan and tax terms.”
Separately, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg last month charged Donald Trump with 34 felony violations related to his alleged hush money payoff to a porn star. The charges, Bragg’s office announced last month, are “for falsifying New York business records in order to conceal damaging information and unlawful activity from American voters before and after the 2016 election.”
Trump is also being investigated by a Georgia District Attorney for his efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election. He is being investigated by the U.S. Dept. of Justice’s Special Counsel for his efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election, and for his retention and refusal to return, even after being subpoenaed, hundreds of documents with classified markings removed from the White House and stored at his Mar-a-Lago residence and resort.
Trump’s attorneys are also currently in court fighting a civil lawsuit brought by journalist E. Jean Carroll, who alleges the ex-president raped her in the 1990s, then defamed her when he denied her claims.
Image: Official White House Photo by Shealah Craighead