Former President Donald Trump released a lengthy statement — and an accompanying video — slamming New York Attorney General Letitia James for her obsessive investigation into the 45th president after Trump plead the Fifth in a deposition with lawyers from James' office on Wednesday as part of the civil investigation into Trump's business dealings.
In his statement, Trump explained why he took the Fifth and refused to answer questions:
I once asked, "If you’re innocent, why are you taking the Fifth Amendment?" Now I know the answer to that question. When your family, your company, and all the people in your orbit have become the targets of an unfounded, politically motivated Witch Hunt supported by lawyers, prosecutors, and the Fake News Media, you have no choice. If there was any question in my mind, the raid of my home, Mar-a-Lago, on Monday by the FBI, just two days prior to this deposition, wiped out any uncertainty. I have absolutely no choice because the current Administration and many prosecutors in this Country have lost all moral and ethical bounds of decency.
Accordingly, under the advice of my counsel and for all of the above reasons, I declined to answer the questions under the rights and privileges afforded to every citizen under the United States Constitution.
"Attorney General Letitia James openly campaigned on the policy of 'Get and Destroy Trump,'" the president reminded. "This political attack on me, my family, and my great company is her despicable attempt to fulfill that cynical, and very corrupt promise. James developed a political platform and made a career out of maliciously attacking me and my business before she was even elected, or reviewed one of the millions of pages of documents we willingly produced," Trump added.
His statement, along with the video, revived AG James' previous statements about her almost-sole focus on using her office in New York to go after Donald Trump:
She proclaimed, “I look forward to going into the Office of Attorney General every day, suing him. . . and then going home!” She announced, “what is fueling my soul right now is Trump”, and that she had her “eyes on Trump Tower.” She even assured her supporters in an Election promise that, “we’re going to definitely sue him. We’re going to be a real pain in the ass. He’s going to know my name personally”, and she claimed I was an “illegitimate President”. In her AG victory speech, she promised to “shine a bright light into every dark corner of Trump’s real estate holdings.” Shortly thereafter, she vowed to “use every area of the law to investigate President Trump and his business transactions, and that of his family as well.”
Continuing, Trump called out the AG who "openly stated her hostilities toward me, and a kind of retribution that is unthinkable. Years of work and tens of millions of dollars have been spent on this long simmering saga, and to no avail," Trump said. "James now realizes I built a great company with tremendous value, and her case is a 'Scam', which is why for years, they haven’t been able to file a single charge," the former president noted.
Meanwhile, other crime in New York continues to spike, something Trump attributes some responsibility for to James' focus on him — along with a failed campaign for governor — rather than on stopping violent criminals:
During her heated “Trump” rhetoric, she ran for Governor of New York State, using “Getting Trump” as her primary credential. It didn’t work, she got very low poll numbers, and ran back into the Office of Attorney General to continue the persecution of “President Donald J. Trump”, despite the fact that New York is suffering its worst murder, drug, and overall crime rate in many decades. Criminals are running rampant, shooting, slashing, and hurting people on the sidewalks of New York, while she and her Office spend a big percentage of their time and money on their “Trump” vendetta.
"What Letitia James has tried to do the last three years is a disgrace to the legal system, an affront to New York State taxpayers, and a violation of the solemn rights and protections afforded by the United States Constitution," Trump said of the long-running offensive waged against him by James.
"New York deserves better, and this Country deserves better," the former president continued. "This is a vindictive and self-serving fishing expedition, the likes of which our Country has never seen before. The United States Constitution exists for this very purpose, and I will utilize it to the fullest extent to defend myself against this malicious attack by this administration, this Attorney General’s Office, and all other attacks on my family, my business, and our Country," Trump explained.
Watch the full video from Trump below: