INTERVIEWER: Mr. Trump, I understand you have a statement that you wanted to read into the record. - Yes. INTERVIEWER: Would you please feel free to start at any time. - Thank you very much. This is the greatest witch hunt in the history of our country. There has never been another president or perhaps even another politician who has been persecuted, harassed, and in every other way unfairly treated like President Donald J. Trump. What Letitia James has tried to do the last number of years is a disgrace to the legal system, an affront to the New York State taxpayers, and a violation of the solemn rights and protections afforded by the United States Constitution. She developed a political platform and made a career out of maliciously attacking me and my business before she even understood, or was elected, or reviewed one of the millions of pages of documents we willingly produced. We willingly produced these documents. James proclaimed that she, quote, "looks forward" to going into the Office of Attorney General every day suing me. And then going home. This is during her campaign. She announced that she was obsessed with, quote, "taking me on." Taking me on. And that her eyes were set on Trump Tower, quote, "Trump Tower." She even assured her supporters as an election promise very strongly that, quote, "We're going to definitely sue him." Before she even knew anything about me. "We're going to be a real pain in his ass. He's going to know my name personally." And she claimed I was on an illegitimate-- and that it was, an illegitimate president. Quote, "illegitimate president." In her AG speech, she promised to, quote, "shine a bright light into every dark corner of Trump's real estate holdings." Shortly thereafter, she vowed to, quote, "use every area of the law to investigate President Trump and his business transactions, and that is-- that of his family as well." She knows nothing about us. This is when she knew absolutely nothing about us. It was very unfair. This whole thing is very unfair. As a pretense for commencing her bogus investigation, Letitia James relied on the testimony of Michael Cohen, a convicted felon and liar. The Southern District of New York astutely described Cohen as a man who, quote, "repeatedly used his power and influence for deceptive ends" by engaging in, quote, "extensive deliberate and serious criminal conduct" consistent with a, quote, "pattern of deception that permeated his professional life." This was in a long, many page statement by him. It only gets worse. This is the witness, a stone-cold loser, a real loser, that she used to justify her obsessive work. Her obsessive investigation of me, even though he got in civil and criminal trouble for representing himself on a taxi cab company that he had and other things, and also others as a lawyer. I once asked, if you're innocent, why are you taking the Fifth Amendment? I was asking that question. Now, I know the answer to that question. 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 even the fake news media, you really have no choice. We cannot permit a renegade and out-of-control prosecutor to use this investigation as a means of advancing her political career. New York deserves better and this country deserves better. Being a prosecutor is a very important thing. This is a vindictive and self-serving fishing expedition, the likes of which this country has perhaps never seen before. If there was any question in my mind, the raid on my home two days ago Mar-a-Lago, Palm Beach, Florida, by the FBI, just two days prior to this deposition, think of it, wiped out any of that uncertainty. I have absolutely no choice because the current administration and many prosecutors in this country have lost all moral and ethical bounds of decency. Anyone in my position, not taking the Fifth Amendment would be a fool. An absolute fool. One statement or answer that is ever so slightly off, just ever so slightly, by accident, by mistake. Such as it was a sunny, beautiful day when actually it was slightly overcast, would be met by law enforcement at a level seldom seen in this country, because I've experienced it. The United States Constitution exists for this very purpose. And I will utilize it to the fullest extent and defend myself against this malicious attack by this administration, this attorney general's office, and all other attacks on my family, my business, and our country. Accordingly, under the advice of my counsel and for all of the above reasons, I respectfully declined to answer the questions under the rights and privileges afforded to every citizen under the United States Constitution. This will be my answer to any further questions. INTERVIEWER: So Mr. Trump, I take it you are not going to answer any questions about your preparation today with your counsel. Is that correct? - Should I say this or should I respond to that? LAWYER 1: Just read that. - For all of the reasons provided in my answer, which is incorporated herein in its entirety, I decline to answer the question. INTERVIEWER: OK. Mr. Trump, the focus of our investigation and what we are primarily going to cover today involves the presentation of your statements of financial condition between 2011 and the present. I take it you are generally familiar with those statements. Is that correct? - For all of the reasons provided in my answer, which is incorporated herein in its entirety, I decline to answer the question. INTERVIEWER: Counsel, I think we can all stipulate that if he says same answer, we will all understand it to be the same invocation. LAWYER 2: That's correct. INTERVIEWER: To speed things up. OK. LAWYER 1: No problem. INTERVIEWER: With that note sir, you are currently the President of the Trump organization. Is that correct? - Same answer. INTERVIEWER: And when I refer to the Trump organization, is it accurate to describe that as the trade name for an umbrella organization that holds assets beneficially owned by you? - Same answer. INTERVIEWER: Is it fair to say that the Trump organization sits on top of several different legal entities? - Same answer.