Cushman & Wakefield has been compelled to release appraisal information related to three of former U.S. President Donald Trump’s properties. An order issued from the New York County State Supreme Court gives the real estate brokerage and advisory firm until May 27 to turn over documents that New York State Attorney General Letitia James had earlier sought to obtain through subpoenas. She contends the appraisals and other information about Cushman & Wakefield’s business relationship with the Trump Organization are relevant to an ongoing investigation.
The inquiries in question focus on three properties:
- Seven Springs Estate, the 230-acre site of a 50,000-square-foot, 15-bedroom mansion in Westchester County, New York, and an appraisal prepared for donation of a conservation easement, for which the Trump Organization received a tax benefit
- Trump National Golf Club – Los Angeles, and an appraisal prepared for donation of a conservation easement, for which the Trump Organization received a tax benefit
- 40 Wall Street in New York City, and multiple appraisals and valuations of the 72-storey office, 1.3 million-square-foot office complex
The court order arises from James’ April 8 motion, which argued that Cushman & Wakefield had no grounds to defy the subpoenas.
“Cushman’s burden — to show that those matters are utterly irrelevant to any proper inquiry, or that it is inevitable that their production will not lead to anything relevant to a proper inquiry — is an impossible one, given the presentation in these motion papers and the copious record with which the Court already is familiar,” it maintains.
The motion also argued that the Office of the Attorney General has the authority to investigate appraisals and determine if they comply with the Uniform Standards of Professional Appraisal Practice.
“Cushman & Wakefield’s work for Donald J. Trump and the Trump Organization is clearly relevant to our investigation, and we are pleased that has now been confirmed by the court,” James stated following the April 25 issuance of the order.
