Trump Organization Must Release Documents to the New York Attorney General
In 2019, Michael Cohen testified that the Trump Organization provided false values for property holdings as part of a scheme to obtain loans and avoid taxes. Cohen’s role in protecting the President caused the attorney to serve time in prison. Now, New York’s Attorney General’s office is conducting a probe into the Organization and the claims that Cohen made last year.
The Trump Organization denied investigators access to documents pertaining to certain property and tax information. A judge in New York issued a ruling forcing the Organization to turn over the requested documents.
The investigation began in 2019, but according to New York Attorney General Letitia James, President Trump and his family are not cooperating. President Trump argues that the investigation is a politically motivated maneuver designed to portray him negatively. However, the President is facing several lawsuits as his time in office comes to an end.
Understanding Suspicion that The Trump Organization Manipulated Property Values
According to Cohen, the Trump Organization manipulated the values of its holdings for financial benefit. For instance, Cohen claims that inflated property values served to help Trump’s standing on lists of Forbes’ wealthiest individuals. The inflated values also benefitted the Organization when they applied for loans or insurance coverage. However, the Organization would then portray the properties as far less valuable for tax purposes. The manipulations saved the Organization millions on property taxes.
Currently, the investigation covers four properties; the documents in question relate to just one of those properties – the Seven Springs Estate in Westchester County. Trump intended to develop the property, but when efforts failed, he granted the bulk of the acreage as a conservation easement. Among the relevant properties are 40 Wall Street in Manhattan, Trump International Hotel and Tower in Chicago, and the Trump National Golf Club in Los Angeles.
The AG’s investigation pertains to possible civil fraud. The consequences, if the Trump Organization is liable, will be largely monetary. However, the allegations could overlap or coincide with criminal charges depending on what investigators uncover in those documents.
The Organization Lost Attempts to Conceal Documents
The Trump Organization claimed that attorney-client privilege protects the documents. According to attorneys for the Organization’s lawyers, the company reasonably believed that the documents were private and protected. The AG’s office argued that by submitting documents to the Internal Revenue Service to gain tax benefits, the Organization waived any such privileges.
Among documents that the Trump Organization attempted to protect are those involving an engineer who worked on the proposed development of Seven Springs. Lawyers for the Trump Organization claim the engineer worked as a translator of technical issues for the attorneys. Therefore, they argued that the court should consider those communications protected by the attorney-client privilege.
The court stated that the Trump Organization had the burden of proving that such communications were necessary to the attorney’s legal analysis rather than just helpful. According to the New York Supreme Court, the Organization failed to provide evidence supporting such an assertion.
The Case is One of Many President Trump Will Likely Face Out of Office
AG James states that the civil case could be straightforward as it will rely heavily on documentation. She pointed out that if one value for a property is on one document, and a wildly different valuation is on a second document used for a different purpose, such evidence could be a strong sign of civil fraud.
Criminal fraud cases are more challenging, though, in part because they involve an analysis of intent. Witnesses might prove crucial in such matters.
President Trump will also have to contend with defamation lawsuits from women who accused him of sexual assault. The charges against the soon-to-be-former President could continue to mount. So far, presidential immunity shielded President Trump from many legal disputes, including ones that likely would have coincided with those that landed Cohen in prison. That immunity ends on January 20, 2021.
Whether President Trump will face a flood of litigation and criminal charges is still unclear. The political hostility the legal attacks could generate makes the prospects unappealing to some, including President-Elect Biden. There are also questions regarding the President’s ability to self-pardon - a move that sits in legally uncharted territory but which President Trump claims is within his powers.
The political landscape is tumultuous, and millions of Americans will likely view any legal challenges to President Trump as politically motivated schemes that are part of a rigged system. An aggressive approach seems out of line with President-Elect Biden’s message of unity.
Still, the legal trouble President Trump will have to contend with once out of office will be significant. However, the President is familiar with suing and being sued and might not find the upcoming battles as unpalatable as would the average citizen. After all, the lawsuits will keep President Trump’s name in the news and help him avoid falling into irrelevancy- a fate many people suspect he fears most of all.
