By Karen Freifeld
(Reuters) – Former President Donald Trump is due back in New York to be questioned Thursday in a $250 million civil fraud lawsuit against him by the state’s attorney general, according to a person familiar with the matter.
But the deposition will take place behind closed doors and is unlikely to draw the kind of attention that his surrender on separate criminal charges did last week.
Trump, who is seeking the Republican nomination for the 2024 presidential election, is expected at New York Attorney General Letitia James’ offices in lower Manhattan, where he will be asked about his business practices. The lawsuit accuses him and others of a decade-long scheme to manipulate the values of properties and his net worth in order to obtain favorable loans and tax benefits.
The case is scheduled for trial beginning Oct. 2. Thursday’s deposition could be used to try to discredit any testimony Trump may give at trial, or be offered as testimony if he is unavailable to appear.
It is not the first time Trump is facing questions from the New York attorney general. In August, before the case was filed, Trump underwent a round of questioning, but invoked his right against self-incrimination under the U.S. Constitution’s Fifth Amendment more than 400 times. Legal experts say the attorney general is also entitled to a deposition after the filing of the lawsuit.Trump’s surrender on April 4, on 34 felony counts of falsifying business records over allegations that he orchestrated a hush-money payment to a porn star before the 2016 election in exchange for her silence over an alleged sexual encounter, drew worldwide media attention and a huge police presence. He returned to his home in Florida after his arraignment.
Trump pleaded not guilty to the charges. He has said the sexual encounter did not take place. It marked the first time a U.S. president has been criminally charged while in office or after.
Trump also faces federal investigations stemming from his handling of government documents after leaving the White House and alleged attempts to overturn his 2020 election defeat as well as a state-level probe in Georgia into whether he unlawfully sought to reverse the 2020 election results there.
In addition, a trial is set for April 25 in federal court in New York over whether Trump defamed former Elle magazine columnist E. Jean Carroll by denying he raped her. Trump is seeking to delay that trial.
(Reporting by Karen Freifeld; Editing by Caitlin Webber and Leslie Adler)
