A lawyer for former President Donald Trump said asset valuations are "incredibly subjective" amid ongoing investigations into whether the Trump Organization misstated the value of properties.
Attorney Alina Habba spoke to Fox News' Sean Hannity on Friday about New York Attorney General Letitia James' investigation into potentially fraudulent property valuations.
James said on Tuesday that her office had uncovered "significant evidence" that the Trump Organization had used misleading valuations in order to gain "economic benefits."
Hannity asked Habba about the New York AG's investigation and the allegations about the asset valuations. "Valuations of real estate property—valuations of any property—are really subjective," Habba said.
"Lenders that we're talking about are institutional, sophisticated lenders.
"If you think that the Deutsche Banks of the world lend money to anyone without doing their own process and tools and valuation of the assets from the ground up—which is incredibly subjective, incredibly subjective—then you're doubting a lot of the banks and people that would work with the Trump Organization or the Trump family.
"It's ridiculous."
During her relatively brief conversation with Hannity, Habba also offered broad criticism of James, calling her involvement in both a criminal and civil probe of the Trump Organization "unethical."
We have uncovered significant evidence indicating that the Trump Organization used fraudulent and misleading asset valuations on multiple properties to obtain economic benefits, including loans, insurance coverage, and tax deductions for years.
— NY AG James (@NewYorkStateAG) January 19, 2022
James' office has been conducting a civil investigation of the Trump Organization and lawyers from her office joined a criminal investigation being carried out by the Manhattan District Attorney. As a result, the New York AG's office is now conducting parallel criminal and civil investigations.
On Tuesday, James' official Twitter account posted a series of tweets relating to the civil investigation.
"We have uncovered significant evidence indicating that the Trump Organization used fraudulent and misleading asset valuations on multiple properties to obtain economic benefits, including loans, insurance coverage, and tax deductions for years," James' office said.
"Donald Trump, Donald Trump, Jr., and Ivanka Trump have all been closely involved in the transactions in question, so we won't tolerate their attempts to evade testifying in this investigation," the tweets went on, adding: "No one is above the law."
James also submitted a court filing in the civil investigation on Tuesday that addressed the issue of asset valuations and Deutsche Bank. She is seeking to compel sworn testimony from Donald Trump, Donald Trump, Jr., and Ivanka Trump.
The filing said that Trump's daughter, Ivanka Trump, "was a primary contact for the Trump Organization's largest lender, Deutsche Bank. In connection with this work, Ms. Trump caused misleading financial statements to be submitted to Deutsche Bank and the federal government."
The former president has denied any wrongdoing and a spokesperson for the Trump Organization issued a statement on Tuesday accusing James of "misleading the public."
"She defrauded New Yorkers by basing her entire candidacy on a promise to get Trump at all costs without having seen a shred of evidence and in violation of every conceivable ethical rule," the statement said.
Newsweek has asked Letitia James' office for comment.
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About the writer
Darragh Roche is a U.S. News Reporter based in Limerick, Ireland. His focus is reporting on U.S. politics. He has ... Read more
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