Rep. Jared Moskowitz (D-Fla.), who represents a nearby district, has written to the property appraiser in Palm Beach County inquiring about future rates of taxation for Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort as at least the former president and his son, Eric, make extreme claims regarding its value.
Both of them (Donald and Eric) have suggested Mar-a-Lago’s value could reach the billions, which would make the near-ocean resort and bronzer usage hotspot known for being the venue where Trump harbored and allegedly blabbed about sensitive government information into one of the most highly-valued properties in the entire world. There’s no clear evidence for this claim. Local appraisals (from the office to which Moskowitz recently wrote, pushing the idea of higher taxes for the property) pinned its value much lower, from $18 million to $28 million.
“Mar-a-Lago was listed as worth $490 million in financial documents given to banks. If the property value of Mar-a-Lago is so much higher than it was appraised, will you be amending the property value in line with the Trump family’s belief that the property is worth well over a billion dollars?” Moskowitz wrote. The official to whom he was writing is named Dorothy Jacks. As Moskowitz noted, it’s not just the recent public commentary from the former president and his son/business associate where those wild claims about Mar-a-Lago’s value have been found. Rather, it’s also the very claims of value for various assets of the Trumps that have driven the ongoing fraud trial in New York originating with a civil case from New York’s Letitia James, the northeastern state’s attorney general.
The older Trump personally attended several days of the New York trial, which could stretch across much of the rest of the year. The former president quickly began antagonizing those present, including James and a clerk for the judge, spurring a gag order applying to potential commentary about court staff.
