Jose PaglieryFebruary 17, 2022, 12:12 AM·4 min readIn this article:

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• Donald Trump45th President of the United States
• Letitia JamesAmerican lawyer and politician

Former President Donald Trump and two of his adult kids are aggressively trying to avoid explaining—under oath—why so many of their business properties have wildly different values on paper. A New York judge will decide their fate on Thursday.

On Feb. 17, Judge Arthur F. Engoron will hear defense attorneys and investigators spar over whether Don Jr., Ivanka, and their former president father can keep dodging subpoenas recently issued by the New York Attorney General’s office, which is investigating potential bank fraud.

The trio was supposed to sit down with investigators at the New York City office of AG Letitia James during the first week of January. Instead, the civil lawsuit quickly spiraled into a nasty, high-stakes fight with both sides going straight for the proverbial jugular.

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On one side is James, a state’s Democratic attorney general elected on the promise she would target the American president over his long history of corrupt behavior. She’s pursuing her own civil lawsuit against Trump while simultaneously teaming up with the Manhattan District Attorney on a similar criminal investigation.

On the other side is Trump, now facing an onslaught of local criminal and civil investigations seeking to hold him accountable now that he’s no longer shielded by the near-total executive power of the presidency—and before he gets a chance to get back into the White House.

In December, the Trump Organization went after James personally, suing her in federal court in an attempt to halt her investigation by claiming her political campaign promises have compromised her.

At the start of the year, Trump and his two adult kids—both executives at the family company—refused to show up to scheduled depositions. They then upped the ante by exposing details of the AG’s investigation in court documents. In those filings, the Trumps are trying to convince the judge that James’ lawsuit is just a thinly veiled attempt at double-dipping, getting them to make statements in a civil case that could be used against them in the separate criminal matter.

(editor：)