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New York Attorney General Letitia James said Monday she has asked a court to enforce subpoenas in an investigation into whether President Trump and the Trump Organization committed fraud by overstating assets to get bank loans.
James, a Democrat, specifically requested that Eric Trump, the president’s son and an executive vice president of the company, appear in court to answer questions and for the Trump Organization to hand over documents.
The New York Attorney General’s request comes a month after Eric Trump abruptly cancelled an interview with James’ office and a week after The Trump Organization said that neither the company nor its lawyers would comply with seven subpoenas tied to the investigation.
New York State Attorney General Letitia James speaks during a news conference at her office in New York. (AP Photo/Richard Drew, File)
The Trump Organization has been trying to shield evidence from James's investigation into its financial dealings, she said in a statement. The organization has stalled, withheld documents and instructed witnesses, including Eric Trump, to refuse to answer questions, she added.
“That’s why we've filed a motion to compel the Trump Organization to comply with our office’s lawful subpoenas for documents and testimony," James said. "These questions will be answered and the truth will be uncovered because no one is above the law.”
The investigation is focused on whether the Trump Organization and the president improperly inflated the value of assets to secure loans and obtain economic and tax benefits. Investigators are looking into whether the Trump Organization and its agents improperly inflated the value of the Seven Springs, a New York estate owned by the Trump family.
In the court filings, the attorney general’s office wrote that “information regarding the valuation of Seven Springs is significant” to the office’s investigation.
The Trump Organization, an umbrella group for the president’s financial holdings, hit back at James’ request, questioned the timing and argued that the probe is politically motivated.
“While we have tried to cooperate in good faith with the investigation at every turn, the NYAG’s continued harassment of the company as we approach the election (and filing of this motion on the first day of the Republican National Convention) once again confirms that this investigation is all about politics,” the Trump Organization said in an emailed statement referring to the N.Y. attorney general. “We will respond to this motion as appropriate.”
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The investigation was launched in March 2019 after Trump’s longtime personal lawyer Michael Cohen told Congress that Trump had inflated the value of his assets to obtain more favorable terms for loans and insurance coverage.
Since then, the attorney general’s office has issued “a number of subpoenas and has taken testimony seeking information material to these matters,” the court filing said. Investigators have not yet determined whether the law was broken.
James's office issued subpoenas to the Trump Organization and to Seven Springs LLC in December 2019, seeking financial documents, the filing said. Since then, both have “engaged in extensive good-faith discussions concerning the Trump Organization’s compliance with the subpoenas.”
The attorney general’s office is also attempting to collect information about several other Trump-related properties, including the Trump National Golf Club near Los Angeles, the Trump International Hotel and Tower in Chicago and an office building on Wall Street in Manhattan where the Trump Organization “owns a ‘ground lease’ pertaining to the property.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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