Trump takes the Fifth

Former President Donald Trump declined to answer questions on Wednesday during a deposition with the office of New York Attorney General Tish James, asserting his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination.

Trump, who has long accused James of conducting a politically motivated probe into his family’s real estate business, said in a statement Wednesday that he had “absolutely no choice” but to take the Fifth during his under-oath interview with the attorney general’s office. James is leading an investigation into Trump Organization business practices, examining allegations that the former president's company misstated asset values on financial documents.

“I once asked, ‘If you’re innocent, why are you taking the Fifth Amendment?’ Now I know the answer to that question,” Trump said in a statement released by his post-presidential office. “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.”

POLITICO learned earlier Wednesday that Trump would be questioned under oath by James's office. A spokesperson for the attorney general declined to comment.

Trump's deposition with the New York attorney general's team came amid the office's three-year-long investigation into whether the Trump Organization had misstated the value of assets on financial statements. Trump had tried for months to avoid Wednesday’s deposition — which comes at a high stakes moment for the former president just two days after the FBI raided his Florida home in an investigation into the alleged mishandling of White House records.

The former president is also the subject of a parallel criminal investigation being conducted by the Manhattan district attorney’s office into whether he fraudulently inflated property values. It has been speculated for months that Trump would plead the Fifth in James' probe to avoid incriminating himself in the district attorney's investigation.

Trump on the campaign trail in 2016 had suggested that not answering questions was a sign of guilt, saying at an event in Iowa, "If you're innocent, why are you taking the Fifth Amendment?" But he walked back that implication in his Wednesday statement, admitting that he now knows "the answer to that question."

"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," Trump said.

A state appeals court ruled in May that Trump and his two eldest children would have to sit for depositions under oath in the attorney general’s probe, denying an appeal from Trump to overturn a ruling enforcing the subpoenas. The former president’s meeting on Wednesday came just days after the attorney general’s office questioned Donald Trump Jr. and Ivanka Trump, both of whom did not plead the Fifth.

James’ office has said that it uncovered “significant evidence” that the Trump Organization fraudulently valued multiple assets and misrepresented them to mislead financial institutions. But Trump has denied any wrongdoing and claimed the investigation is politically motivated.

The former president’s deposition on Wednesday could represent a final stage of James’ civil investigation, after which she could file a lawsuit against Trump or negotiate a settlement with Trump’s lawyers to obtain a quicker financial payout.

Betsy Woodruff Swan contributed to this report.