Cushman & Wakefield fights back against Trump case subpoenas

Cushman & Wakefield is pushing back against a subpoena demanding documents relating to the valuation of Donald Trump’s properties. On Wednesday (11 May) Cushman filed an appeal against a ruling ordering it to comply with the subpoena, in an escalation of its fight with New York attorney-general Letitia James. It will argue that James is seeking documents prepared for clients that have no relation to the Trump Organization and that handing them over would violate those clients’ privacy. “Providing these documents would represent a violation of our clients’ proprietary business information and their privacy and a breach of the trust they place in us to preserve it,” a company official said. Cushman claims that it has already handed over more than 40,000 pages of documents relating to its appraisals for the Trump Organization. Cushman’s appeal comes after New York judge Arthur Engoron last month ordered it to comply by May 27 with two of James’s previous document requests. That decision came the same day that Engoron held the former president in contempt of court for refusing to hand over documents, imposing a $10,000 daily fine until he does. Yesterday the judge conditionally lifted that ruling, provided that Trump follows through with commitments to supply information about his company’s document retention policy and complete a review of additional materials by May 20. The judge also ordered him to pay the fines, now totalling $110,000. Cushman carried out appraisals for several of the Trump-owned properties that James has been scrutinising as part of her office’s civil investigation, including the Seven Springs development in Westchester and a golf club in Los Angeles. In one case cited by James, Cushman’s appraisers valued the 40 Wall Street building in lower Manhattan at $220m in 2012 and then $550m in 2015. James is seeking internal communications from Cushman regarding its decision to sever ties with the Trump Organization in January 2021 following the attack on the US Capitol. She has also demanded comparable appraisals the firm carried out over the years to determine whether it made special allowances for Trump’s properties. Cushman has denied wrongdoing, and insisted that its appraisals were performed in good faith. Its conclusions were often influenced by changing circumstances, it has argued, including the New York property market’s robust recovery from the 2008 financial crisis. In at least one case, the attorney-general’s filing showed Cushman executives resisting pressure from a Trump attorney to offer a more generous valuation of a property. The FT (£) The Guardian To send feedback, e-mail piers.wehner@eg.co.uk or tweet @PiersWehner or @EGPropertyNews