Eric Trump, the son of former President Donald J. Trump and a key figure in his father's various business endeavors, accidently exposed himself to further potential legal liability when during a deposition in a case brought by the New York Attorney General's office against the Trump Organization, he repeated stated that he wished "to assert my Third Amendment privilege."
It is the Fifth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution that permits a person to refuse to answer questions under oath due to fear of self-incrimination; on the other hand, the Third Amendment protects one from being forced to quarter military personnel on his or her property during times of peace.
"It happens," noted one legal expect. "I'm not saying it happens a lot, but I'm sure it happens. People get up to testify, they know they have to assert a privilege under an amendment, but they just can't remember which one. I'm sure Eric probably knew it was an odd numbered amendment, but unfortunately for him, he was two amendments off."
"You know what, now that I think about it, I actually
don't think this has ever happened before," the legal expert ultimately was forced to admit. "Like, never."
Meanwhile, Trump's invocation of his Third Amendment rights created further unanticipated complications, as a unit of the Florida National Guard that had been taking up residence at Trump's Jupiter, Florida home was forced to quickly vacate the premises immediately upon Trump having raised his Constitutional privilege.
"Do I like the guy's dad?" asked one Guardsman. "No. Did I vote for his dad? Also, no. Do I even like Eric Trump? Again, no. Frankly, he's a bit of a simpleton, and I'm playing it nice saying it like that. But I have to admit, he has one majorly sick pad and I, for one, am going to miss it a lot."
The National Guard unit had been staying at Trump's house for a period of no less than six months, for reasons that the unit's commander described as "just because." During this time period, members of the unit enjoyed unfettered access to the five bedroom, seven bathroom mansion and amenities such as a fully stocked professional chef's kitchen, a backyard pool and spa, and home theater with a 96 inch television.
"Eric does not cheap out on streaming services," a Guardsman said. "Of course you're going to have Netflix, Hulu and Disney+. That's a given anywhere. But the guy also has streaming services you and I have never heard of before. Like Puppetta--that's a streaming service that offers films and shows exclusively featuring puppets. Puppets! How wild is that?"
"Also, Tubi," the Guardsman added. "People sleep on Tubi, calling it an inferior streaming service and complaining about being forced having to sit through commercials. But you get some real hidden gems on there that you might not find on Netflix. Like last night, I watched a really good Finnish drama called
Veri ja Puuro set during that country's civil war in 1918. It was really good. You ought to check it out."
Meanwhile, back as it relates to Eric Trump's unforced legal error in his testimony, Trump's invocation of the wrong amendment means that various admissions he made during the course of his deposition may come back to haunt him down the road.
"I could see real problems when he admitted that he used the entire proceeds of a Trump Foundation charity ball to purchase a fleet of Rolls Royce manufactured golf carts for the Trump Westchester club," one legal expert explained. "And when he talked about that time where he, his dad and his brother and sister all discussed valuing their New York tower for tax purposes as one might value an abandoned mussel factory in Southern Alabama. I could see that biting him in the end."
"But at least he'll have some peace and quiet at home again," he noted.
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