NEW YORK CITY (NBC) – Former President Trump appeared in Manhattan Wednesday for a court-mandated deposition in one of the many investigations he faces.
The case comes just days after the FBI searched his Florida home and left with many boxes of materials.
Donald Trump’s deposition today lasted about 6 hours, but unlike Ivanka Trump and Don Junior, who answered questions during their depositions, the former president did not. He reportedly invoked his Fifth Amendment right.
Former FBI General Counsel Andrew Weissmann said, “I’m not surprised that he did not expose himself to potential criminal liability.”
Trump’s long-sought testimony is part of an investigation by New York’s attorney general into whether he improperly valued his assets to get favorable treatment from lenders and the IRS.
In a statement, Trump said, “I was once asked, ‘If you’re innocent, why are you taking the Fifth Amendment? Now I know the answer.”
Trump was referring to this 2016 remark: “The mob takes the Fifth. If you’re innocent, why are you taking the Fifth?”
Now, he says he had no choice with himself and his family.
Wednesday’s deposition follows federal agents removing about a dozen boxes from his Florida home Monday in a search for sensitive documents taken from the White House.
Weissmann commented, “Documents of such singular national security interest to the U.S., that it overwhelmed all of the other interests here.”
These investigations, in addition to ongoing probes into Trump’s attempts to overturn the election, and the January 6th attack on Capitol.
Trump is denying all wrongdoing.
Republican allies, including a dozen he hosted for dinner Tuesday, encouraged him to run for president.
Trump is seemingly more emboldened as his legal troubles pile up.
Legal experts differ on whether revelations from the FBI Mar-a-Lago search could disqualify Trump from holding office.
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