Donald Trump's Kids Ivanka & Donald Jr. Must Testify Alongside Their Dad About the Family Business

Things suddenly got very real for Donald Trump, Ivanka Trump and Donald Trump Jr. on Thursday afternoon after a New York judge ordered all three of them to respond to questions about the Trump Organization. This ongoing criminal investigation has already resulted in the arrest of former CFO Allen Weisselberg, so Attorney General Letitia James can finally move ahead with the civil depositions of the family members as a part of the case.

The Trump family fought hard against the subpoenas, saying that it was a politically motivated situation, but New York State Supreme Court Justice Arthur Engoron doesn’t see it that way. “We all went to law school and read the cases about protected classes,” Engoron said. “The traditional protected classes are race, religion, et cetera, Donald Trump doesn’t fit that kind of mode or model, he’s not being discriminated against based on race. Is he? Or religion, is he? He’s not a protected class. If Ms. James has a thing against him, that’s not in my understanding unlawful discrimination,” he explained, via CBS News. Donald, Ivanka and Donald Jr. are expected to be deposed in the next three weeks unless a Trump family lawyer moves ahead with a promised appeal.

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The three Trump Organization family members do have the right to plead the Fifth Amendment during depositions, but the former president’s lawyer, Ronald Fischetti, is trying to avoid this because of the global publicity this will invoke. He’s concerned that the civil deposition “will be on every front page in the newspaper in the world.” He’s probably not wrong about the headlines, but James is trying to get to the heart of how the Trump Organization handled its day-to-day business — and they can’t do that without the input of Donald, Ivanka and Donald Jr.

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While there are currently no criminal charges in this case against any of the Trumps so far, a deposition could lead to more negativity from the court of public opinion — whether they respond to the questions or not. So now the ball is in their court, and they are going to have to figure out a way to handle a very sticky legal situation.

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