Trump may be trapped into pleading the 5th during January deposition: former US Attorney
Appearing on MSNBC on Saturday afternoon, former U.S. Attorney Barbara McQuade stated that Donald Trump may be put in the unenviable and embarrassing position of invoking his 5th Amendment rights to not incriminate himself when he sits down with the state of New York investigators in January.
The former president is slated to sit down for a deposition in mid-January to discuss claims he made about the value of his properties with the threat of criminal charges also hanging over him.
Speaking with host Alex Witt, McQuade said Trump might find himself cornered while under questioning.
"Is there any way Trump can get out of testifying?" host Witt asked.
"Well, ordinarily, in a civil case, Alex, it's really quite common to take the deposition of people who were involved in the investigation," McQuade began. "In a case about fraud, about inflating or deflating property values, a really important part of the case is determining whether the person knew they were making false statements and whether they had an intent to defraud, and so taking their deposition is the best way to get that information."
"The reason the stakes are so high is because it's Donald Trump," she continued. "He's given tons of depositions in his past as a businessman, and now, his deposition is being sought again in his capacity as a businessman and so these theatrics about it being a witch hunt are really misplaced."
"What makes it really interesting though, is a pending criminal case that could cause Trump to invoke his Fifth Amendment rights when he is testifying in case there is some concern that the statements that he makes at his deposition would later be used against him in the criminal case," she elaborated before adding with a smile, "But of course Donald Trump has famously said, innocent people don't take the Fifth."
"Absolutely right," the MSNBC host agreed. "But there's no way we're going to hear executive privilege, right? That would not even close to apply in this case."
"So, you're right that it would not be close to applying in the case but I don't guarantee we won't hear it because the law doesn't often stop president Trump from asserting various privileges," McQuade joked. "But it is in his personal capacity and so executive privilege has nothing to do with this case."
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