Former US President Donald Trump did not have any documents subpoenaed by the New York attorney general’s office as part of a civil investigation into the Trump Organization’s finances and should not be disregarded, he told a court. state court.
“After conducting a careful search and review, Respondent’s attorneys determined that Respondent was not in possession of any of the documents responding to the Subpoena and that all potentially responsive documents were ownership, custody, or control of the Trump Organization,” Trump attorney Alina Habba said in a court filing Tuesday.
New York Attorney General Letitia James is seeking to disparage Trump and fine him $10,000 a day for failing to comply with a subpoena sent in December for documents. Investigators are seeking documents and communications related to Trump’s statements about financial status, asset valuations on reports and records used to prepare the statements, by subpoena.
James’ subpoena also searches for records related to the funding of Trump International Hotel & Tower Chicago, conservation measures, development plans at the Trump family estate known as Seven Springs, security Insurance and records of his wealth were provided to reporters for Forbes magazine.
Trump’s attorney called the proposed fine “excessive.”
James’s office has ramped up pressure to comply with the subpoena as it approaches a late-April deadline when the fee agreement with the Trump Organization expires. Last month, at his request, New York state judge Arthur Engoron set a deadline requiring the Trump Organization to fully comply with subpoenas for the documents by April 29. James’ office also pressured Trump personally to respond to document requests by moving to hold him in civil contempt.
James alleged that since starting the investigation in 2019, her office has discovered “substantial” evidence that the Trump Organization used fraudulent or misleading asset valuations. mislead to obtain a variety of economic benefits, including loans, insurance, and tax deductions.”
Trump has denied wrongdoing and a Trump Organization spokesman said in a statement that “the allegations are baseless and will be vigorously defended.”
The dispute over Trump’s records was previewed in a court filing in January when James’s office said it learned from witnesses that Trump kept hard copies of the documents and used sticky notes. to communicate with employees. It said a cabinet of documents related to Trump’s records was never sought to comply with the subpoena.
“This record was never searched because the Trump Organization determined, incidentally, that Mr. Trump was not involved in the preparation of his own financial statements,” the AG’s office wrote.
At trial last month, a lawyer for the attorney general’s office said it was “incredible” that the Trump Organization had only identified 10 documents it said came from Trump’s office files.
Investigators also sought to disparage longtime Trump Foundation assessor Cushman & Wakefield for failing to comply with subpoenas. The attorney general’s office said it was looking into the potential for error by appraisers in preparing financial statements. Cushman has said it is “fundamentally untrue” that it did not respond to the attorney general’s office and that it sided with its assessors.
Engoron has scheduled a hearing for Monday to look into the attorney general’s contempt move.
