A Manhattan judge has ruled that the Trump Organization must give material to New York state Attorney General Letitia James (D) that relates to an engineer who worked on their so-called Seven Springs property in New York. As part of a civil investigation into business practices at the Trump Organization, James’s office alleges that the Trump Organization “improperly inflated Seven Springs’ valuations to claim a $21.1M deduction,” reporter Adam Klasfeld explains. James’s office is moving forward with their investigation after Trump’s former longtime “fixer” Michael Cohen testified that the Trump Organization repeatedly adjusted valuations of its assets to secure financial perks like tax benefits.
Breaking:
Trump Organization and its attorney must turn over documents related to its Seven Springs engineer to @NewYorkStateAG Letitia James, for an ongoing fraud probe, a Manhattan judge just ruled.
Story soon, @LawCrimeNews https://t.co/XcGz6VMLHI
— Adam Klasfeld (@KlasfeldReports) December 15, 2020
On Twitter after the new ruling, James insisted that her office “will continue to follow the facts wherever they may lead us.” Manhattan Supreme Court Judge Arthur Engoron handed down the Tuesday ruling against the Trump Organization, undoing his own previous conclusion that the documents in question were privileged. Referring to the engineer whose work is at the center of the controversy, Engoron ruled on Tuesday that the Trump Organization must “produce all communications with Ralph Mastromonaco to the New York Attorney General’s office” by December 18, which is this coming Friday. Originally, in 2016, the Trump Organization valued a so-called “conservation easement” at the Seven Springs property at $21.1 million, which gave the Trump family business a significant tax boost.
#BREAKING: A judge just ruled that the Trump Organization must turn over additional documents related to my office's ongoing investigation.
We will continue to follow the facts wherever they may lead us.
— NY AG James (@NewYorkStateAG) December 15, 2020
Engoron has ruled against Trump World’s attempts to drag out James’s investigation in the past, having rejected a request from Eric Trump to delay his own deposition until after Election Day. This time around, he ordered the release of communications with Mastromonaco after New York state Assistant Attorney General Eric Haren argued that there is “no accountant-client privilege, and… no engineer-professional privilege.” The communications involve the Trump Organization and its attorney Charles Martabano, who consulted on land-use matters.
James has previously pledged to continue her investigation of the Trump Organization after the outgoing president’s exit from office. Trump has feverishly complained about New York investigations that target him and his company, but evidence is evidence, no matter who happens to sit at the center of the alleged improper activity. There’s simply no legitimate evidence of some kind of conspiracy to use the mechanisms of the state judicial system in New York to merely make Donald Trump look bad. Trump and his allies are facing other legal battles, like the court fight in which D.C. Attorney General Karl Racine (D) alleges that the Trump inaugural committee “violated its nonprofit status by spending more than $1 million to book a ballroom at Trump’s D.C. hotel that its staff knew was overpriced and that it barely used,” as The Washington Post explains.
