Cushman & Wakefield, a commercial real estate services firm, is rejecting a subpoena issued by the New York Attorney General as part of an investigation by former President Donald Trump and the Trump Organization.
Cushman on Wednesday appealed the decision, which he ordered to comply with the summons, in an escalation of the fight against Leticia James, the chief prosecutor. It will be argued that James is looking for documents prepared for clients who have no connection to the Trump Organization, and that handing them over would violate the confidentiality of those clients.
“Providing these documents would be a violation of our customers’ own business information and confidentiality and a breach of trust they place in us to maintain it,” said a company official.
Cushman claims to have handed over more than 40,000 pages of documents related to her assessments of the Trump Organization. Many of the details subsequently surfaced in a January court case in which James said he had uncovered “substantial evidence” of fraud committed by the Trump Organization, claiming he had increased the value of his property to provide better loan terms.
Cashman’s appeal comes after New York Judge Arthur Engoren last month ordered that two of James’ previous requests for documents be complied with by May 27. The decision came the same day that Engoron detained the former president in contempt of court for refusing to hand over documents, imposing a daily fine of $ 10,000 until he did.
On Wednesday, the judge conditionally overturned the decision, provided Trump fulfills his commitments to provide information on his company’s policy on document retention and to complete a review of additional materials by May 20. The judge also ordered him to pay fines totaling $ 110,000.
Cashman has assessed several of Trump’s properties, which James is inspecting as part of a civil investigation into her office, including the construction of Seven Springs in Westchester and Trump’s Golf Club in Los Angeles. In one case, quoted by James, Cushman’s appraisers estimated the 40 Wall Street building in lower Manhattan at $ 220 million in 2012 and then at $ 550 million in 2015.
James is seeking internal communications from Cushman about his decision to sever ties with the Trump organization in January 2021, following the attack on the US Capitol. She also asked for comparable assessments the company has made over the years to determine whether it has made special allowances for Trump’s property.
Cushman denied any wrongdoing and insisted that his assessments had been made in good faith. His findings have often been influenced by changing circumstances, he said, including a steady recovery in the New York real estate market since the 2008 financial crisis. Trump’s lawyer to offer a more generous property appraisal.
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