Judge Arthur Engoron of the New York Supreme Court ruled Tuesday night that the Trump organization must hand over documents related to a property, which is being investigated by New York State Attorney General Letitia James, who is the state’s chief prosecutor, according to CNN.
Earlier, the Trump organization claimed that these documents were protected by the privilege of confidentiality between lawyers and clients. The documents Trump now has to hand over are linked to a property he owns in Westchester, New York.
The documents must be handed in by December 18th, 2020.
According to The Independent, documents between the engineer, who worked on the property, the Seven Springs Estate, and the Trump organization, must be handed over.
Again, the judiciary and the rule of law have won. We will immediately ensure that the Trump organization follows the court decision and submits documents related to our investigation. My office’s investigation will continue, and we will follow the facts wherever they may lead us, James said in a statement.
James has been investigating US President Donald Trump and his business organization since 2019. The investigation began after Trump’s former personal lawyer, Michael Cohen, testified in Congress.
There, Cohen claimed that Trump exaggerated the value of some assets in financial documents to get new loans and insurance coverage, but that he also underreported the value of other assets to reduce property taxes.
The Westchester property is one of four properties that are part of a comprehensive investigation into whether the president’s son, Eric Trump, who is now in charge of the organization while his father is president, has inflated the value of assets. This is one of several allegations against the Trump family, including a forensic investigation led by Manhattan Attorney General Cyrus Vance.
According to US media, Trump has investigated whether it is possible to give himself a preventive pardon before leaving the White House on January 20. Such a pardon would then only cover federal offenses, and not what is currently being investigated at the state level in New York.
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