Former President Donald Trump was grilled for nearly seven hours Thursday during his second deposition in the $250 million civil case brought against him by New York Attorney General Letitia James.
Trump, 76, was “not only willing but also eager to testify” during the meeting with with James’ lawyers who questioned him about his company’s businesses practices, his attorney Alina Habba said as the Republican headed into the attorney general’s Manhattan office.
“He remains resolute in his stance that he has nothing to conceal, and he looks forward to educating the Attorney General about the immense success of his multi-billion dollar company,” Habba said.
The openness to talk is a staunch reversal from Trump’s previous deposition in the civil case last year when he invoked his Fifth Amendment rights hundreds of times in order to remain silent and avoid self-incrimination.
James claimed Trump and three of his children lied to banks about his net worth and overvalued his assets including his hotels and golf courses by billions.
Ahead of the deposition, Trump called James “a Racist” and said the civil case was absurd.
“This civil case is ridiculous, just like all of the other Election Interference cases being brought against me,” he wrote on Truth Social. “If I had a fair judge, this case would have never happened. MAGA!”
Trump arrived by motorcade to James’ office around 9:40 a.m. and was seen leaving just before 6:16 p.m.
A lawyer for Trump’s business said the Republican presidential contender spent nearly all seven hours “describing in detail his extraordinary business success.”
“The transactions at the center of this case were wildly profitable for the banks and for the Trump entities,” attorney Christopher Kise said. “When the facts of this success, and not politically engineered soundbites, are out in the open, everyone will scoff at the notion any fraud took place.”
The lawsuit James brought against the ex-president is scheduled to go to trial in October if the suit isn’t settled before then.
Trump was in the Big Apple just eight days earlier when he was arraigned on 34 felony charges in a separate criminal probe looking into “hush money” payments made on his behalf.
With Post wires