阿瑟·恩戈伦法官命令唐纳德·特朗普总统的儿子在10月7日前出庭作证,拒绝了埃里克·特朗普提出的等到选举结束后再作证的请求。
恩戈龙说,推迟提供证词的论点“没有说服力”,因为“无论是请愿者还是法院都不受全国选举时间表的约束”。
纽约总检察长办公室周三试图迫使埃里克·特朗普(Eric Trump)作证,作为调查特朗普组织是否不当夸大某些资产以获得本来无权获得的税收优惠的一部分。
埃里克·特朗普(Eric Trump)曾提出在选举日之后出庭作证,称竞选团队的旅行日程繁忙,但他“再也不能推迟采访,最迟将于10月7日在我的办公室与调查人员坐下来,”他说纽约司法部长莱蒂西亚·詹姆斯。“明确地说,任何单位或个人都不得决定我们的调查将如何或何时进行,或设定合法调查的参数。”
助理司法部长马修·科林格洛告诉法官埃里克·特朗普不应该在决定他作证的时间方面发挥作用。
“仅仅是个人不便的理由并不能成为推迟合规的依据,”科兰杰洛在恩戈龙之前的视频听证会上说。
罗伯特·布凯蒂/美联社
2020年9月17日星期二,在缅因州的Saco,唐纳德·特朗普总统的儿子埃里克·特朗普在为他父亲举行的竞选集会上发言。
埃里克·特朗普(Eric Trump)的律师艾伦·富特法斯(Alan Futerfas)表示,拟议中的延迟是由于律师的更换,因此总统的儿子将由独立于公司的律师代理。
“这项调查涉及大量材料,”福特斯说。“我们需要时间来研究这些材料。我们需要时间来准备我们的客户。”
富特法斯还提醒法官注意即将到来的选举:“埃里克·特朗普是选举中至关重要和不可分割的一部分,他每周只旅行大约7天。”
在同一次听证会上,科兰杰洛表示,特朗普组织不正当地向调查人员隐瞒了大约40多份记录,他对该公司声称这些文件受到律师-客户特权的保护一事犹豫不决。
“没有证据表明它们与法律目的有关,其中约44个被复制给了第三方,特权被放弃,”科兰杰洛说。
托尼·德雅克/美联社
2020年9月21日,星期一,在俄亥俄州斯旺顿,唐纳德·特朗普总统在一次竞选集会上发表讲话。
特朗普组织坚称其行为是出于善意。
特朗普组织律师劳伦斯·罗森(Lawrence Rosen)表示:“在整个调查过程中,我们一直与司法部长非常合作。”
Judge denies Eric Trump's request to delay deposition until after election
Judge Arthur Engoron has ordered President Donald Trump's son to appear for a deposition by Oct. 7, denying Eric Trump's request to wait until after the election.
Engoron said the argument to delay providing testimony was "unpersuasive" because "neither the petitioner nor this court is bound by timelines of the national election."
The New York Attorney General's Office on Wednesday had sought to compel testimony from Eric Trump as part of an investigation into whether the Trump Organization improperly inflated certain assets to obtain tax benefits it otherwise would not have been entitled to receive.
Eric Trump had offered to sit for a deposition after Election Day, citing a busy travel schedule on behalf of the campaign, but he "will no longer be able to delay his interview and will be sitting down with investigators in my office no later than Oct. 7," saidNew York Attorney General Letitia James. "To be clear, no entity or individual is allowed to dictate how or when our investigation will proceed or set the parameters of a lawful investigation."
Assistant Attorney General Matthew Colangelo told the judge Eric Trump should have no role in dictating the timing of his testimony.
"The mere ground of personal inconvenience isn't a basis to delay compliance," Colangelo said during a video hearing before Engoron.
Eric Trump, the son of President Donald Trump, speaks at a campaign rally for his father, Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2020, in Saco, Maine.
An attorney for Eric Trump, Alan Futerfas, said the proposed delay resulted from a change in attorneys so the president's son is represented by counsel separate from the company.
"There is a massive amount of material that is involved in this investigation," Futerfas said. "We need time to go through these materials. We need time to prepare our client."
Futerfas also reminded the judge about the approaching election: "Eric Trump is a vital and integral part of that, and he's traveling just about seven days a week."
During the same hearing, Colangelo said the Trump Organization was improperly withholding about four dozen records from investigators and he balked at the company's claim the documents are protected by attorney-client privilege.
"There's no evidence they relate to a legal purpose and in about 44 of them they were copied to a third party and the privilege is waived," Colangelo said.
President Donald Trump speaks at a campaign rally, Monday, Sept. 21, 2020, in Swanton, Ohio.
The Trump Organization insists it's acted in good faith.
"We've been very cooperative with the attorney general throughout the investigation," said Trump Organization attorney Lawrence Rosen.