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      What does it mean to ‘plead the fifth’ – and will Donald Trump do it?

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      What does it mean to ‘plead the fifth’ – and will Donald Trump do it?The ex-president has been ordered to testify in a New York fraud case. Will he invoke his constitutional right to remain silent? Donald Trump and his two eldest children have been ordered by a New York judge to appear for a deposition within 21 days, as part of an investigation into the Trump family finances. The development presents the former US president with a dilemma: should he invoke his right to silence by pleading the fifth?What does ‘pleading the fifth’ mean?The right of any person to decline to answer questions put to them in criminal proceedings flows from the fifth amendment of the US constitution (hence “pleading the fifth”). The amendment, dating back to 1791, protects individuals from self-incrimination. “Nor shall any person be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself,” it says.Joe Biden to urge ‘deterrence and diplomacy’ in Ukraine crisis – liveRead moreTechnically, the financial investigation into the alleged fraudulent accounting of the Trump Organization is being conducted by Letitia James, the New York state attorney general, as a civil case, and as such is not covered by the right to silence. There is a complication, though – James has made clear that she is working in unison with the Manhattan district attorney Alvin Bragg, who is also looking into Trump finances but as a criminal matter.On Thursday, hours before Judge Arthur Engoron ruled that Trump and his children Donald Jr and Ivanka had to present themselves for questioning, the former president’s lawyers protested that he was being put in an impossible bind.Alina Habba, one of Trump’s legal team, told the court: “They either disclose evidence in a civil investigation or they have to invoke the constitutional right not to testify, thereby triggering an adverse inference in the civil action. How is that fair, your honour?”Does pleading the fifth imply the witness is guilty?In law, not at all. US law could not be clearer. Invoking your right not to answer a question in a criminal case says nothing about your guilt, and no inference may be drawn from it.The supreme court has underlined that point several times. For instance, in the 2001 ruling Ohio v Reiner, the justices stated that “one of the fifth amendment’s basic functions is to protect innocent persons who might otherwise be ensnared by ambiguous circumstances”.Of course, what the law says is not the end of the calculation. Witnesses have to weigh up how a jury might respond were the case to go to civil trial, as Trump’s might. If you are a politician like Trump, there is also the vexed issue of public opinion.Could Trump family members plead the fifth when they face James in the next few weeks?Absolutely. There is a track record for this. Trump’s younger son Eric, the executive vice-president of the Trump Organization, has already been called before the James inquiry to answer questions about whether the family business misleadingly or fraudulently valued its assets to secure loans or pay lower taxes.Eric Trump pleaded the fifth no fewer than 500 times. Allen Weisselberg, the company’s chief financial officer, also invoked his right to remain silent hundreds of times.What is Trump’s take on this?To plead or not to plead the fifth is an especially fraught question for the former president. His lawyers know that he has a tendency to wander off script, which may be fine at a campaign rally surrounded by supporters but is not a good idea if you are facing a dagger-sharp inquisitor like James.Trump has invoked his fifth amendment rights in the past. The investigative reporter Wayne Barrett chronicled how in 1990 Trump declined to answer 97 questions, many about adultery, during his bitter divorce from his first wife, Ivana Trump.On the other hand, remaining silent could make him look weak and hypocritical. Trump has gone on the record several times denouncing those who invoke their fifth amendment rights.At a campaign stop in Iowa during the 2016 presidential race, he said: “The mob takes the fifth. If you’re innocent, why are you taking the fifth amendment?”In 2014, he offered the disgraced comic Bill Cosby “some free advice” in a tweet. He said: “If you are innocent, do not remain silent. You look guilty as hell!”TopicsDonald TrumpUS politicsRepublicansanalysisReuse this content More

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      It’s Trump’s time to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth | Lloyd Green

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      It’s Trump’s time to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truthLloyd GreenA New York judge has ruled Trump will have to testify in his fraud investigation, leaving Trump sweating and his investors shaking their heads Donald Trump’s bad luck continues. On Thursday afternoon, Arthur Engoron, a Manhattan judge, gave the thumbs up to subpoenas issued to Trump, favorite child Ivanka, and Donald Trump Jr, by Tish James, New York’s attorney general. The court’s ruling follows a decision by Trump’s accountants to walk away from the one-term president and disavow years of financial statements issued by his company.Much as the Trump trio tried, they could not shut down James’s investigation into the Trump Organization’s business practices, which could lead to a civil suit by James. Unlike a criminal prosecution, a civil action comes with a lower burden of proof for the government. At the same time, civil lawsuits can drag on – like right into 2024. Barring a stay, Trump and his two children have been ordered to appear at deposition within 21 days.Trump and two eldest children must testify in New York case, judge rulesRead moreIf they tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, who knows what liability may result? On the other hand, if they invoke their right to remain silent, they will probably be portrayed as criminals.“You see, the mob takes the fifth,” Trump observed on the campaign trail in 2016. “If you’re innocent, why are you taking the fifth amendment?”Time sure flies. And if the Trump family refuses to appear at deposition or simply stays mum when grilled, they risk being charged with contempt, a distinction presently held by Steve Bannon, Trump’s White House counselor and 2016 campaign guru.At this moment, Trump must be sweating while his lenders have to be shaking their collective heads. How much is Trump worth and how bad can things get are no longer hypothetical issues. In the absence of operative financial statements, restructurings and bank-called defaults have spilled into the realm of the real.As one Trump insider confided: “Hey, this might be serious. Could Donald Trump [and his business] be screwed? I don’t know, but I’m not as confident as I once was in saying, ‘No’.”Meanwhile, 2024 Republican presidential aspirants are likely stifling a collective smirk. Trump’s legal woes stand to broaden the Republican party’s presidential field, and for some it is downright personal.For Mike Pence, Trump’s hapless vice-president, these recent developments may well trigger a sense of schadenfreude. It wasn’t that long ago when Trump’s loyalists came with makeshift gallows for Pence as they stormed the Capitol, and Trump said nothing to deter the mob. Instead, he demanded loyalty from his No 2.As for Ron DeSantis, Florida’s governor, Trump’s troubles could not come at a better time. Trump has all but called DeSantis a coward for refusing to say whether he was vaccinated. Beyond that, Florida’s recent per capita Covid mortality rate is the seventh highest in the US, and DeSantis is having a hard time denouncing neo-Nazi violence.“So what I’m going to say is these people, these Democrats who are trying to use this as some type of political issue to try to smear me as if I had something to do with that,” the Sunshine state governor declared. “We’re not playing their game.”To be sure, Trump’s Maga base would stick with him through thick-and-thin. The party’s deep-pocketed donors are a different story. Trump may have delivered them a trove of tax cuts and ambassadorships, but he’s emotionally draining.Beyond that, his antics in the run-up to the 2020 Georgia runoff elections cost the Republicans control of the Senate. There are reasons Mitch McConnell rejects Trump’s lie that the election was stolen and is seeking to bypass the 45th president.Thursday’s ruling was scathing. At one point, the court concluded that the attorney general had uncovered “copious evidence of possible financial fraud”. Elsewhere, the judge excoriated Trump & Co for their flight to fantasy and fiction, invoking Alice in Wonderland, 1984 and Kellyanne Conway all in a single sentence.“The idea that an accounting firm’s announcement that no one should rely on a decade’s worth of financial statements that it issued based on numbers submitted by an entity somehow exonerates that entity and renders an investigation into its past practices moot is reminiscent of Lewis Carroll (‘When I use a word, Humpty Dumpty said … it means just what I chose it to mean – neither more nor less’); George Orwell (‘War is peace, freedom is slavery, ignorance is strength’); and ‘alternative facts.’”In the past, Trump managed to weather storms surrounding his finances and credibility. Trump University did not stop the ex-reality show host’s political ascent. What happens next remains to be seen.Right now, Joe Biden’s poll numbers are in the low 40s, inflation is on the loose, and Nancy Pelosi is poised to lose the speaker’s gavel. Against that tableau, Trump poses a distraction from Republican ambitions, an unwelcome detour from anticipated outcome.
      Lloyd Green is an attorney in New York. He was opposition research counsel to George HW Bush’s 1988 campaign and served in the Department of Justice from 1990 to 1992
      TopicsDonald TrumpOpinionUS politicsDonald Trump JrIvanka TrumpMike PenceKellyanne ConwayNew YorkcommentReuse this content More

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      Trump’s interior secretary misused position and lied to ethics official, watchdog says

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      Trump’s interior secretary misused position and lied to ethics official, watchdog saysRyan Zinke lied to agency ethics official about his involvement with foundation to advance project in his Montana home town Government investigators say the former US interior secretary Ryan Zinke misused his position to advance a development project in his Montana home town and lied to an agency ethics official about his involvement.The interior department’s inspector general said in a report made public on Wednesday that Zinke continued working with a foundation on the commercial project in the community of Whitefish, Montana, even after he committed upon taking office to breaking ties with the foundation.The report also says Zinke gave incorrect and incomplete information to an interior department ethics official who confronted him over his involvement and that Zinke directed his staff to assist him with the project in a misuse of his position.The Great Northern Veterans Peace Park Foundation was established by Zinke and others in 2007. Zinke and his wife were in negotiations with private developers for the use of foundation land for a commercial development project.Zinke is a candidate in the June Republican primary for an open Montana congressional seat, a position he held before joining Trump’s cabinet.He stepped down from his role as interior secretary in the Trump administration in December 2018 following a series of scandals in which he was accused of using his position for personal gain.On Wednesday Zinke’s campaign called the report “a political hit job” and said his family’s involvement in the land deal led to the creation of a children’s sledding park.Investigators referred the matter to the Department of Justice for potential prosecution but they declined to pursue a criminal case, according to the report.The investigation into the land deal was one of several focused on Zinke that began when he was in Trump’s cabinet.In another case, investigators found that he violated a policy that prohibits non-government employees from riding in government cars after his wife traveled with him, but he said ethics officials approved it.Zinke was cleared of wrongdoing following a complaint that he redrew the boundaries of a national monument in Utah to benefit a state lawmaker and political ally.Under Zinke’s leadership, the interior department sought to advance oil and gas drilling and mining on or near public land, rolled back protections for threatened species and shrank national monuments.“Zinke’s days of plundering our lands and enriching himself and his friends are over,” said Nicole Ghio, senior fossil fuels program manager for Friends of the Earth, said at the time he stepped down. Trump had praised him saying he had “accomplished much during his tenure”.Associated Press contributed to this reportTopicsTrump administrationUS politicsRepublicansnewsReuse this content More

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      Ocasio-Cortez: ‘Very real risk’ US democracy won’t exist in 10 years

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      Ocasio-Cortez: ‘Very real risk’ US democracy won’t exist in 10 years Efforts by Republicans to restrict voting rights could result in return to Jim Crow era, says progressive in New Yorker interview The progressive New York congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez believes the Republican-led pressure on political systems is so great that there is “a very real risk” democracy will cease to exist in the US within a decade.The leftist Democratic politician derided efforts by Republican legislatures around the country to restrict voting rights as the “opening salvos” in a war on democracy, which she said could result in a return to the Jim Crow-era disenfranchisement of racial minorities.In the interview with the New Yorker, she warned that the clock was ticking for Joe Biden and other Democratic leaders to do anything about it, with huge chunks of the president’s agenda, including legislation to protect voting rights, stalled in Congress by more conservative or moderate members of her own party.“Honestly, it is a shitshow,” Ocasio-Cortez said of working in the same Democratic-controlled Congress in which centrist senators Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema have blocked both electoral reforms and Biden’s ambitious Build Back Better social spending initiative.“We don’t have much time,” she said. “The president has not been using his executive power to the extent that some would say is necessary.”The issue of voting rights was a dominant theme of the interview with New Yorker editor David Remnick, who asked her about her previous use of the phrase “if we have a democracy 10 years from now”.“There’s a very real risk that we will not,” she said. “What we risk is having a government that perhaps postures as a democracy, and may try to pretend that it is, but isn’t.“We’ve already seen the opening salvos of this, where you have a very targeted, specific attack on the right to vote across the United States, particularly in areas where Republican power is threatened by changing electorates and demographics.“You have white nationalist, reactionary politics starting to grow into a critical mass … the continued sophisticated takeover of our democratic systems in order to turn them into undemocratic systems, all in order to overturn results that a party in power may not like.”Although she believes the situation “is not beyond hope”, Ocasio-Cortez fears inaction will lead to a “return to Jim Crow”, a reference to repressive laws in the US south to the mid-20th century designed to enforce racial segregation and disenfranchise Blacks.“You have it already happening in Texas, where Jim Crow-style disenfranchisement laws have already been proposed,” she said.“You have the complete erasure and attack on our own understanding of history, to replace teaching history with institutionalized propaganda from white nationalist perspectives in our schools. This is what the scaffolding of Jim Crow was.“The question we’re really facing is, was the last 50 to 60 years after the Civil Rights Act just a mere flirtation that the United States had with a multiracial democracy that we will then decide was inconvenient for those in power? And we will revert to what we had before?”TopicsAlexandria Ocasio-CortezUS politicsRepublicansnewsReuse this content More