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New York Attorney General Letitia James has taken legal action to force former President Donald Trump, Donald Trump, Jr. and Ivanka Trump to cooperate with her investigation into the Trump Organization’s financial dealings.
James on Tuesday filed a motion seeking a court order to compel the three family members to appear for sworn testimony as required by subpoenas that have been issued to the Trumps by her office.
The attorney general’s action came in response to an earlier motion filed by Trump and the two children to quash the interviews with the AG’s office.
In 2019, James’ office opened up the investigation into the Trump Organization after former Trump lawyer Michael Cohen testified that Trump exaggerated the value of the companies’ assets to obtain better terms for loans and insurance policies.
While the investigation is ongoing, James said Tuesday that the probe has so far determined that the Trump organization allegedly used fraudulent and misleading asset valuations for financial gain.
At the center of the AG office’s preliminary findings are annual financial statements sent to Trump Organization insurers.
According to the investigation, what was disclosed on the statements, which are used by the outside companies to determine Trump’s financial condition, differed from the information the Trump Organization sent to its accountants.
“The OAG has determined that the statements … described Mr. Trump’s (or the Trustees of the Revocable Trust’s) valuation process in broad terms and in ways which were often inaccurate or misleading,” the AG’s office said, “when compared with the supporting data and documentation that the Trump Organization submitted to its accounting firm.”
Some of the alleged misrepresentations on the financial papers, according to James’ office, include overstating the size of the former president’s Trump Tower penthouse and a failure to use fundamental techniques of valuation.
The inflated assets also allegedly helped Trump’s liquidity by wrongly categorizing assets outside the Trump Organization’s control as “cash.”
The AG’s office said numerous allegedly misvalued properties owned by Trump and the Trump Organization were frequently included in the statements to obtain loans.
The properties included Seven Springs in Westchester and Trump National Golf Club Westchester, and the Trump Tower Triplex on Fifth Avenue in Midtown.
James’ office said it has not yet determined whether their findings merit legal action.
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