The Daily Fuckup

New York Attorney General Letitia James took the civil investigation into the Trump Organization’s finances to court on January 18, 2022, asking a judge to force Donald J. Trump, Donald Trump Jr. and Ivanka Trump to comply with subpoenas for testimony and documents. In the filing, James said her office had collected significant evidence that the company used fraudulent or misleading asset valuations to seek loans, insurance coverage and tax deductions. ([ag.ny.gov](https://ag.ny.gov/press-release/2022/attorney-general-james-takes-action-force-donald-j-trump-donald-trump-jr-and))

The petition laid out a broad theory of the case rather than a single disputed asset. It said investigators had found statements and backup records that misstated basic facts, shifted assets into catch-all categories, and described valuation methods in ways that the office said were inaccurate or misleading when compared with the company’s own supporting materials. Among the examples listed were the size of the Trump Tower penthouse, the treatment of assets as cash, and valuation assumptions tied to properties including Seven Springs, Trump Aberdeen, Trump National Golf Club Westchester and Trump Park Avenue. ([ag.ny.gov](https://ag.ny.gov/sites/default/files/court-filings/supplemental-verified-petition-2022-01-18.pdf))

The filing also said the statements used by Trump and the Trump Organization did not include any intangible brand value, even though the office said there was evidence that undisclosed brand premiums had been added to some property valuations. The attorney general’s office said it wanted testimony from senior Trump organization figures to determine what they knew and how the numbers were assembled. ([ag.ny.gov](https://ag.ny.gov/sites/default/files/court-filings/supplemental-verified-petition-2022-01-18.pdf))

The dispute then moved into the appellate courts. On February 28, 2022, the Appellate Division, First Department, unanimously affirmed an order entered that same day by Supreme Court Justice Arthur Engoron. The ruling denied the motion to quash and granted the attorney general’s petition to compel compliance with the deposition and document subpoenas. ([nycourts.gov](https://www.nycourts.gov/courts/ad1/calendar/List_Word/2022/05_May/26/PDF/People%20of%20NY%20%20v%20%20Trump%20Organization%20%282022-00814%29.pdf))

The practical question in the case was whether the state could prove that the valuations were used to obtain benefits the Trump Organization would not have received on the same terms if the numbers had been accurate. If the attorney general’s claims held up in court, the case could expose the company to civil penalties and deepen the scrutiny on the financial statements that supported Trump’s business empire. ([ag.ny.gov](https://ag.ny.gov/press-release/2022/attorney-general-james-takes-action-force-donald-j-trump-donald-trump-jr-and))