Trump's son questioned in NY probe into family's asset valuations

New York

US PRESIDENT Donald Trump's son Eric was questioned under oath by the New York attorney-general's office, which is probing whether the family's real-estate company falsely reported property values to get loans or tax benefits, said a person familiar with the matter.

Eric Trump, an executive vice-president at the Trump Organization, was deposed by state investigators on Monday via video-conference, said the source, who declined to be identified. Mr Trump had initially refused to provide testimony, then unsuccessfully tried to postpone the questioning until after the November election.

The probe by New York Attorney-General (AG) Letitia James is focusing on an obscure property called Seven Springs, which occupies 212 acres (85.8 hectares) outside New York City, as well as transactions involving the Trump-owned 40 Wall Street building in lower Manhattan, a Los Angeles golf club and the Trump International Hotel and Tower Chicago. The company has denied wrongdoing.

Michael Cohen, the president's former personal lawyer and fixer who has become a vocal critic, has said his ex-boss inflated the value of his assets "when it suited him" and deflated the same figures to reduce his tax liability.

New York state court Justice Arthur Engoron ordered Eric Trump to sit for the deposition by Oct 7 after Ms James took legal action to enforce seven subpoenas for documents and testimony that the Trump Organization was withholding. The judge rejected Mr Trump's argument that he was too busy working on his father's re-election campaign to submit to questioning.

The Trump company, which turned over thousands of documents to Ms James, a Democrat, has accused her of weaponising the investigation for political purposes ahead of the election. The probe, however, is not likely to be finished or result in any public findings before Nov 3.

Also on Monday, the attorney-general's office advised Justice Engoron in a court filing that former Trump land-use lawyer Charles Martabano, who was also subpoenaed in the case, had provided an updated log of hundreds of documents that he believed were protected by attorney-client privilege.The state says the update shows that Mr Martabano, who last worked for the Trump Organization in 2014, withheld documents related to the Seven Springs property as well as communications with Eric Trump.

"The log further establishes that the Trump Organization appears to have known for months that Mr Martabano was withholding hundreds of documents that he had never logged," the AG's office said. "The court should consider the reliability of the Trump Organization's other factual representations in this matter." BLOOMBERG