Skip to main content

NY judge orders Trump Organization’s tax firm to hand over more documents to state attorney general

(CNN) — A New York state judge on Friday ordered a tax firm that has worked with former President Donald Trump to turn over more documents to New York Attorney General Letitia James as part of her office’s investigation into the Trump Organization.

The supplemental order is one of several that Manhattan Supreme Court Judge Arthur Engoron has made in the past month requesting that the tax firm Morgan, Lewis & Bockius turn over documents that James’s office has requested as part of its investigation.

The attorney general’s office declined to comment. CNN has reached out to the Trump Organization and Morgan, Lewis & Bockius for comment.

The Trump Organization has previously argued that the documents are protected by attorney-client privilege, but in December, Engoron ruled that “some but all” of the documents requested by the attorney general’s office were privileged.

Engoron wrote that he privately reviewed documents that Trump’s tax attorney Sheri Dillon at Morgan Lewis & Bockius has to turn over, saying that documents he determined were not privileged be turned over by February 4.

“The court finds that many of the communications Morgan Lewis marked as privileged were communications addressing business tasks and decisions, not exchanges soliciting or rendering legal advice,” Engoron wrote in his order Friday.

The status of documents related to a property’s investigated tax abatements has been a point of contention in the case.

Amy Carlin, an attorney for the Trump Organization, argued last month that the company had “every expectation that those communications would be confidential,” regarding discussions about a property in Westchester County involving an engineer.

The attorney general’s office argued that the documents were not privileged, in part, because the Trump Organization had “waived privilege” when it disclosed certain documents to the IRS to “gain benefit,” said attorney Eric Haren with the attorney general’s office.

Haren said that “literally everything other than the final appraisal value” was not disclosed to his office.

James’ office has been investigating Trump and the Trump Organization since 2019, when Trump’s former attorney Michael Cohen testified before Congress that the former President’s annual financial statements inflated the values of his assets in order to secure favorable loans and insurance coverage, but deflated the value of other assets in order to reduce real estate taxes.

The-CNN-Wire
™ & © 2021 Cable News Network, Inc., a WarnerMedia Company. All rights reserved.


from Boston News, Weather, Sports | WHDH 7News
Source: https://ift.tt/3afMe6r

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Virginia family gets keys to Habitat for Humanity’s first 3D-printed home in the US

(CNN) — One Virginia family received the keys to their new  3D-printed home  in time for Christmas. The home is Habitat for Humanity’s first 3D-printed home in the nation,  according to a Habitat news release. Janet V. Green, CEO of Habitat for Humanity Peninsula and Greater Williamsburg, told CNN it partnered with Alquist, a 3D printing company, earlier this year to begin the process. The 1,200-square-foot home has three bedrooms, two full baths and was built from concrete. The technology allowed the home to be built in just 12 hours, which saves about four weeks of construction time for a typical home. April Stringfield purchased the home through the  Habitat Homebuyer Program . She will move in with her 13-year-old son just in time for the holidays. “My son and I are so thankful,” Stringfield said in a  live feed streamed on Habitat’s Facebook  page. “I always wanted to be a homeowner. It’s like a dream come true.” To purchase the home, Stringfield logged hundreds of hours of

Lawsuit: High school football player says coaches forced him to eat pizza as punishment, violating religious beliefs

CANTON, Ohio (AP) — An Ohio high school football player who says coaches forced him to eat a pizza covered with pepperoni grease in violation of his religious beliefs is suing his former district and the ousted coaches. The former Canton McKinley High School athlete and his parents filed a federal civil rights suit this week seeking millions of dollars in damages and alleging violations of his religious freedom and constitutional rights. The athlete says in the lawsuit that coaches were notified he doesn’t eat pork or pork residue as a member of the Hebrew Israelite religious faith, but that they ordered him to eat the pizza as punishment for missing an offseason workout — and indicated his spot on the team was at risk if he didn’t. The coaches say the player chose to remove pepperoni and eat the pizza rather than an alternative food. They weren’t aware it violated his religious beliefs, according to a  defamation case they filed  previously against the teen’s father, his attorney a

Bergeron, Pastrnak and Bruins finish off Capitals in 5 games

WASHINGTON (AP) — Patrice Bergeron and David Pastrnak dazzled on offense, Tuukka Rask was rock solid in net and the Boston Bruins are moving on to the second round of the playoffs. Bergeron scored twice at crucial times after Pastrnak’s  highlight-reel  goal, Rask made 40 saves and the Bruins eliminated the Washington Capitals in five games with a 3-1 victory Sunday night. Bergeron delivered the dagger with 7:35 left to set up a second-round showdown against either the Pittsburgh Penguins or New York Islanders. Chants of “TUUKK!” emanated from a large group of black and gold-clad Boston fans who were part of the limited-capacity sellout crowd of 5,333. Those were occasionally interrupted by “We want the Cup!” — the trophy the Bruins last won a decade ago after a 39-year title drought. They’re 12 wins away, thanks to their best players dominating in Game 5. Pastrnak made it look easy putting the puck behind his back and through his legs, assisted on Bergeron’s first goal and was par