Trump and his children may be deposed by New York attorney general, judge rules

(CNN) – Former President Donald Trump, as well as his children Ivanka and Donald Jr., must sit for depositions in the New York attorney general’s civil investigation of their business practices, a New York judge ruled Thursday.

New York Supreme Court Judge Arthur Engoron also rejected an attempt to freeze the work of Attorney General Letitia James, who is investigating whether Trump misled lenders, insurers or others in his family business’ financial statements.

On several occasions throughout a two-hour hearing Thursday morning and in his ruling, the judge expressed skepticism toward the Trumps’ arguments that sitting for testimony in the civil investigation would undermine their constitutional rights.

That argument “completely misses the mark,” Engoron wrote in the order issued Thursday afternoon. He noted that the Trumps have the right to refuse to answer specific questions in the civil probe, as Eric Trump did when he sat for a deposition in the investigation.

That argument “completely misses the mark,” Engoron wrote in the order issued Thursday afternoon. He noted that the Trumps have the right to refuse to answer specific questions in the civil probe, as Eric Trump did when he sat for a deposition in the investigation.

Engoron also excoriated the Trump Organization for claiming that James’ investigation is now moot because the former President’s longtime accounting firm, MazarsUSA, recently determined that the last 10 years of financial statements it prepared were unreliable.

“The idea that an accounting firm’s announcement that no one should rely on a decade’s worth of financial statements it issued based on the numbers submitted by an entity somehow exonerates that entity and renders an investigation into its past practices as moot is reminiscent of Lewis Carroll (‘When I use a word, Humpty Dumpty said … it means just what I chose it to mean — neither more nor less’); George Orwell (‘War is peace, freedom is slavery, ignorance is strength’): and ‘alternative facts,'” Engoron wrote.

“To proclaim that that Mazars’ red-flag warning that the Trump financial statements are unreliable suddenly renders the OAG’s longstanding investigation moot is as audacious as it is preposterous,” the judge added.

The ruling is the latest in a string of of legal defeats suffered by the former President, as he seeks to fend off investigations and lawsuits entangling his business. The Trump Organization was recently reinstated as a defendant in a case brought by the DC Attorney General Karl Racine, who is alleging the funds for Trump’s 2017 inauguration were misused. In the DC case, a judge ruled Thursday that former Trump Org. Chief Financial Officer Allen Weisselberg will have to sit for a deposition by Racine’s lawyers.

In the New York case, Engoron ordered the Trumps to sit for depositions within 21 days of his order, and the judge gave the former President 14 days comply with the attorney general’s demands for certain documents and records.

“In the final analysis, a State Attorney General commences investigating a business entity, uncovers copious evidence of possible financial fraud, and wants to question, under oath, several of the entities’ principles, including its namesake,” Engoron wrote. “She has the clear right to do so.”

Ronald Fischetti, attorney for former President Donald Trump, told CNN after the ruling came down that he will appeal the decision and seek a stay of the order.

“We lost before we argued,” said Fischetti. “I told my client that so I had no hope whatsoever that this judge would give us the relief that we wanted.”