NEW YORK — The New York attorney general’s office said Monday it subpoenaed Donald Trump’s longtime executive assistant and plans to question her under oath next week as part of its civil investigation into the former president’s business dealings.
The subpoena for Rhona Graff was disclosed by a lawyer for Attorney General Letitia James’ office in court papers opposing Trump’s latest bid to rid himself of a contempt of court order for being slow to respond to a subpoena for documents and other evidence.
Graff’s deposition is scheduled for May 31, special litigation counsel Andrew Amer said in the court filing.
Amer said James’ office plans to ask Graff about a variety of issues, including Trump’s involvement in the preparation of annual financial statements that have been a focus of the attorney general’s investigation.
Graff left Trump’s company, the Trump Organization, in April 2021, but was among several people involved in keeping his records who provided affidavits to Trump’s lawyers late Friday as they sought to have his contempt order lifted.
Graff, who started working for Trump in 1987, has been described as his gatekeeper and right hand. Trump’s former personal lawyer, Michael Cohen, wrote in his book that she had her own office at Trump Tower with a large filing cabinet containing folders on various issues pertaining to Trump.
Amer said James’ office wants to question Graff under oath, in part, because her affidavit only described the company’s retention and preservation practices for some of Trump’s records, and lacked detail about how his Statements of Financial Condition were handled.
“Did (Trump) ever review the statement in draft form before he signed the final version each year?” Amer wrote, listing questions left unanswered by Graff’s affidavit.
“Did he annotate any drafts with comments and/or questions?” Amer continued. “If so, what happened to those drafts? In what form was the final version of the statement presented for Mr. Trump’s approval in each year? How did he make his approval clear? Ms. Graff’s affidavit does not say.”
A message seeking comment was left with a lawyer who represented Graff in past legal matters.
James, a Democrat, has said her three-year probe uncovered evidence the Trump Organization misstated the value of assets like skyscrapers and golf courses on financial statements for more than a decade.
Trump, a Republican, denies the allegations. He has called James’ investigation “racist” and a politically motivated “witch hunt.” James is Black. Trump’s lawyers have accused her of selective prosecution.
Trump’s lawyers contend James is using her civil investigation to gain access to information that could then be used against him in a parallel criminal investigation being conducted by the Manhattan district attorney, a Democrat.
Trump is also suing James in federal court, seeking to shut down her probe.
Judge Arthur Engoron declared Trump in contempt on April 25 and fined him $10,000 per day after the former president failed to produce any documents to satisfy a March 31 deadline to meet the terms of her subpoena.
James’ subpoena sought records pertaining to Trump’s annual financial statements, development projects, even communications with Forbes magazine, where he sought to burnish his image as a wealthy businessman.
Engoron agreed May 11 to lift the order if, by Friday, Trump paid $110,000 in fines and submitted affidavits detailing efforts to search for subpoenaed records and explaining his and his company’s document retention policies.
The judge also required a company hired by Trump to aid in the search, HaystackID, to finish going through 17 boxes kept in off-site storage, report its findings and turn over any relevant documents.
That process was completed Thursday, James’ office said.
Engoron stopped the fine from accruing May 6, when Trump’s lawyers submitted 66 pages of court documents detailing the efforts by him and his lawyers to locate the subpoenaed records. He warned that he could reinstate it, retroactive to May 7, if his conditions weren’t met.
Engoron told Trump to pay the money directly to James’ office and for the attorney general to hold the money in an escrow account while Trump’s legal team appeals the judge’s original contempt finding.
Amer wrote in Monday’s court filing that while Trump and his lawyers have made strides in meeting Engoron’s conditions for ending the contempt order, the sanction should remain in effect until Graff’s deposition.
Once Graff testifies, Amer said the attorney general’s office will advise Engoron if she’s provided satisfactory testimony — answering questions not addressed in her affidavit — and whether Trump’s contempt order should then be lifted.
Engoron hasn’t ruled in the matter since his May 11 order outlining his conditions for lifting the contempt order.
In the meantime, Amer said, in order to meet Engoron’s conditions seeking clarity on Trump’s records retention practices, his lawyers should provide a detailed affidavit from another Trump executive and an affidavit providing detail on the efforts they made to contact each of Trump’s 12 former executive assistants.
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