Trump declines to answer questions in civil investigation

Former U.S. President Donald Trump declined to answer questions in a civil investigation into his business dealings on Wednesday morning.

After arriving at the New York attorney general's office for a deposition, Trump issued a statement saying that he would invoke the Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination.

The Republican also lashed out at New York Attorney General Letitia James for what he called a policy of "Get and Destroy Trump."

James' office has been conducting a civil investigation into whether the Trump Organization improperly inflated the value of assets on financial statements in order to obtain loans and tax benefits.

Trump's two children -- Donald Trump Jr. and Ivanka Trump -- were deposed earlier this month.

The deposition came two days after Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) agents raided Trump's Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach, Florida.

The unannounced operation was said to have involved classified materials that Trump allegedly took with him from the White House to Mar-a-Lago, when he left office in January 2021.

Neither the FBI nor the U.S. Department of Justice has commented on the raid, of which the White House has denied any advance knowledge.