January 3, 2022

New York Subpoenas Trump Kids in Probe of Family Business. They Say They Won’t Comply.

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New York Attorney General Letitia James is ramping up her civil investigation into the Trump Organization’s business practices. On Monday, court filings showed New York is subpoenaing two of Donald Trump’s children, Ivanka and Donald Jr.—who have already said they won’t comply. The filing also confirmed James had subpoenaed Trump himself, which was reported a month ago.

As my colleague Russ Choma wrote in May, James’ investigation has been ongoing since 2019. The probe, he wrote, “included questions of whether Trump had fraudulently inflated or deflated the values of his properties when seeking loans or tax breaks.” Another Trump son, Eric, already sat for a deposition relating to the case in October 2020.

But Ivanka and Donald Jr., who have both been heavily involved in the Trump Organization, aren’t handing over any documents without a fight. The two have filed already filed motions to end the subpoenas, ABC News reports.

Because this is a civil investigation, James could file a lawsuit if she finds sufficient evidence, but she could not press criminal charges. However, James’ office is also involved in a criminal probe, spearheaded by former Manhattan DA Cy Vance, of potential tax fraud by Trump Organization CFO Allen Weisselberg. Vance, who left office last week, is leaving the investigation to his successor, Alvin Bragg.

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WHO DOESN’T LOVE A POSITIVE STORY—OR TWO?

“Great journalism really does make a difference in this world: it can even save kids.”

That’s what a civil rights lawyer wrote to Julia Lurie, the day after her major investigation into a psychiatric hospital chain that uses foster children as “cash cows” published, letting her know he was using her findings that same day in a hearing to keep a child out of one of the facilities we investigated.

That’s awesome. As is the fact that Julia, who spent a full year reporting this challenging story, promptly heard from a Senate committee that will use her work in their own investigation of Universal Health Services. There’s no doubt her revelations will continue to have a big impact in the months and years to come.

Like another story about Mother Jones’ real-world impact.

This one, a multiyear investigation, published in 2021, exposed conditions in sugar work camps in the Dominican Republic owned by Central Romana—the conglomerate behind brands like C&H and Domino, whose product ends up in our Hershey bars and other sweets. A year ago, the Biden administration banned sugar imports from Central Romana. And just recently, we learned of a previously undisclosed investigation from the Department of Homeland Security, looking into working conditions at Central Romana. How big of a deal is this?

“This could be the first time a corporation would be held criminally liable for forced labor in their own supply chains,” according to a retired special agent we talked to.

Wow.

And it is only because Mother Jones is funded primarily by donations from readers that we can mount ambitious, yearlong—or more—investigations like these two stories that are making waves.

About that: It’s unfathomably hard in the news business right now, and we came up about $28,000 short during our recent fall fundraising campaign. We simply have to make that up soon to avoid falling further behind than can be made up for, or needing to somehow trim $1 million from our budget, like happened last year.

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