Both Donald Trump Jr, and Ivanka Trump, the children of the 45th President of the United States, Donald Trump, have refused to testify in an inquiry about their family business being involved in fraudulent activities. 

New York Attorney General (AG), Letitia James’ office had subpoenaed the two as part of the process of the civil inquiry she opened back in 2019. The contention was that before Trump was elected into the office of the President, he had inflated the value of his assets while seeking loans from banks.

Trump’s lawyers are all over the case, and have deemed the summons to be “unprecedented and unconstitutional”. They want this line of inquiry to be quashed and are determined to stop the AG from questioning Trump Jr and Ivanka. 

Meanwhile, Trump has enmeshed himself in this legal battle, suing James and accusing her of having an axe to grind. According to Trump, James is an elected Democrat who’s coming after him because he’s a Republican. His accusations of political motivation came when James asked Trump to testify in person, at the attorney general’s office. 

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While the court filings state that this is the first time the investigation has turned to Trump’s children being questioned under oath, James’ office maintains that the truth will out at all costs. A spokesperson addressed the development, saying, “We are confident that our questions will be answered and the truth will be uncovered because no one is above the law.” 

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Trump’s other son, Eric, who’s 37 years old, and the executive vice-president at the Trump Organization, was already questioned in October 2020. However, the civil case brought against Trump by James is different from the criminal case ongoing in Manhattan, which looks at the Trump Organization’s business practices. 

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Both Donald Trump Jr and Eric took over their father’s business, in 2017, along with Allen Weisselberg, the chief financial officer. The move came after America chose Trump as their leader. Before becoming a senior advisor at the White House, Ivanka too worked in the same organization.