Attorney General Letitia James has been investigating former U.S. President Donald Trump’s business practices for three and a half years, looking into whether his company misrepresented the value of his real estate to obtain cheap loans and tax deductions.
Mr. James said Friday that Cushman had done appraisals for several Trump Organization properties, including the Seven Springs estate in Westchester County New York, the Trump National Golf Course Los Angeles and 40 Wall Bourse in midtown Manhattan. .
James’ office is seeking to determine whether the valuations prepared by Cushman were fraudulent or misleading, but Cushman refused to comply with a subpoena issued in February 2022 and only partially complied with an earlier subpoena, according to a filing.
“While Cushman initially expressed his desire to comply with the OAG’s subpoenas, the company nonetheless withheld hundreds of sensitive documents and asked four witnesses not to answer numerous questions based on Trump’s baseless claims of privilege. Organization,” the filing from James’s office reads.
A spokesperson for Cushman said the filings did not accurately characterize the company’s responses.
“Any suggestion that Cushman & Wakefield failed to respond in good faith to the Attorney General’s investigation is fundamentally false,” the spokesperson said in a statement. “We stand behind our evaluators and our work”.
Cushman said in January 2021 that she had cut ties with the Trump Organization.
Trump, a Republican who lost his re-election bid in November 2020, denies any wrongdoing and dismissed James’ probe as a politically motivated witch hunt. James, a Democrat, is running for re-election for her job.
James’ lawsuit over Cushman’s records comes after she asked a New York judge to hold Trump in contempt of court for failing to turn over the documents she subpoenaed, and to fine her $10,000 for each day he fails to comply.
On Friday, New York State Supreme Court Judge Arthur Engoron said he would hold a hearing on April 25 to determine whether Mr Trump should be held in contempt. (Reporting by Luc Cohen New York; Editing by Leslie Adler and Richard Pullin)