Eric says he'll testify after the election; judge disagrees

President Donald Trump’s son Eric has until Oct. 7 to speak to New York investigators probing his family’s business practices, a judge ruled Wednesday, rejecting his lawyers’ contention that his “extreme travel schedule” on the campaign trail warranted a delay until after the November election.

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In a court filing last week, Eric Trump’s lawyers said he was willing to comply with the subpoena, but could do so only after the Nov. 3 election.

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“As the world knows, there’s an election going on in about four weeks in this country, maybe five weeks,” Futerfas told Engoron. “Eric Trump is a vital and integral part of that, and he’s traveling just about seven days a week.”

  US News

That was a pretty bold argument considering the fact that Eric was supposed to give up any political activity in order to head up the Trump Organization.

Eric Trump switched lawyers in mid-July, Futerfas said, contributing to the need for a delay.

Great way to avoid appearing. Keep changing attorneys.

Eric Trump did not participate in Wednesday's hearing, which was held via Skype. Eric, the third of Trump’s five children, was scheduled to appear Wednesday at a campaign event in Glendale, Arizona, called “Evangelicals for Trump: Praise, Prayer, and Patriotism.”

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State Judge Arthur Engoron said Eric Trump, an executive at the family's Trump Organization, had no legal basis to postpone a subpoena seeking his deposition testimony under oath, concluding that neither the probe nor the court were “bound by the timelines of the national election."

New York Attorney General Letitia James went to court to enforce the subpoena after Eric Trump’s lawyers abruptly canceled a July interview with investigators looking into whether the Trump Organization lied about the value of its assets in order to get loans or tax benefits. The investigation is civil, not criminal, in nature and investigators have yet to determine whether any law was broken.

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James launched the investigation last year after President Trump's longtime personal lawyer Michael Cohen told Congress that the president had repeatedly inflated the value of his assets to obtain more favorable terms for loans and insurance coverage.

James’ investigators are looking at how the Trump Organization and its agents assessed the value of Seven Springs, a 212-acre (86-hectare) estate north of Manhattan that President Trump purchased in 1995 with the intention of turning it into a golf club.

After that project failed to progress, the elder Trump granted an easement over 158 acres (60 hectares) to a conservation land trust in 2016 to qualify for an income tax deduction.

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Any deposition would happen out of public view and would likely remain confidential because of the ongoing investigation.

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.