NEW YORK — A judge has ruled former President Donald Trump must answer questions under oath in a New York investigation into his business practices.
State Judge Arthur Engoron made the decision Thursday.
It is likely to be appealed.
New York Attorney General Letitia James was seeking to enforce subpoenas her office issued in December to Trump and his two eldest children, Ivanka and Donald Trump Jr. Both of them have been executives in their family's Trump Organization.
They were also ordered to testify.
"No one will be permitted to stand in the way of the pursuit of justice, no matter how powerful they are," James said after the ruling.
James added that all three of them must testify before her office within 21 days.
"No one is above the law," James said.
Donald Trump, Donald Trump Jr., and Ivanka Trump must all comply with this court order and testify before my office within 21 days.
No one is above the law.
— NY AG James (@NewYorkStateAG) February 17, 2022
Engoron previously sided with James on other matters relating to the probe, including making Eric Trump testify after his lawyers abruptly canceled a scheduled deposition.
James has been investigating the Trump Organization since 2019. In January, James wrote in a court filing that her office has evidence that the Trump Organization routinely misrepresented the value of its properties and golf clubs in financial statements.
In December, Trump filed a lawsuit against James in the hopes of stopping her investigation. James, in turn, asked the court to throw that lawsuit out.
Earlier this month, an accounting firm that prepared Trump's financial statements broke ties with the former president, saying that the documents "should no longer be relied upon." Those documents were used to secure lucrative loans and burnish Trump's image as a wealthy businessman.
The Trump Organization's longtime chief financial officer, Allen Weisselberg, was charged last year with several crimes linked to tax fraud in connection with a separate federal investigation.
