Donald Trump's longtime appraisers say NY AG Letitia James is violating their clients' privacy — but what she really wants to probe is them

A court order from last month that requires them to turn over years worth of property valuations by five of their former employees is being appealed by the global real estate services giant.

The appeal was filed in a New York appellate court in Manhattan.

James wants the records of five employees of Cushman who did appraisals for the Trump National Golf Club in Los Angeles, 40 Wall Street in Manhattan, and Seven Springs in New.

Austin Thompson, a lawyer for the AG's office, argued in a Manhattan court hearing last month that the five targeted appraisers have made repeated misstatements in the documents they have seen so far.

Thompson said in court last month that they were worried about misstatements contained in the five employees' appraisals and whether they have been repeated more often than they have already identified.

The golf club and the Westchester estate were both wrongly attributed to someone else as part of a tax-break scheme, according to Thompson.

According to the AG, appraisals of Trump's interest in 40 Wall Street more than doubled in three years. The higher appraisal was used by Trump in securing the loan.

Between 2012 and 2015, James wants the three Cushman appraisers who handled 40 Wall Street to turn over all of their other appraisals.

She demanded six years of additional appraisals from the employee who appraises Seven Springs and the employee who appraises the LA-area golf club.

In court hearings, Sawnie A. McEntire has said that complying with the subpoenas would violate the privacy of some 1,000 clients unrelated to the Trump Organization.

The clients would know. They would have to be told that their appraisals had been subpoenaed.

McEntire said that Timothy Barnes, the employee who appraised Seven Springs, pushed back against the Trump Organization's demands.

The lawyer said during the hearing that Cushman has cooperated.

Over the last three years, my client has responded to twelve separate subpoenas.

He said that his clients have spent billions of dollars in attorney fees and expenses complying with subpoenas.

For a long time, Trump was a major client of the company.

Trump Tower in Manhattan, Trump Tower in Chicago, Trump International Hotel and Tower in Manhattan, and the former president&s golf clubs in Miami, Bedminster, NJ, were all assessed by the firm.

On January 13, 2021, the company issued a press release stating that it was cutting ties with the company due to Trump's involvement in the attack on the Capitol. James subpoenaed documents related to that tie-cutting.

According to lawyers for the AG, the real reason the firm split with Trump last year was the AG's probe, which they want to see any communications concerning the split between the company and its board of directors.

Last year, the company claimed more than $9 billion in revenue. The firm has until May 27 to comply with the subpoenas.

While we are filing this appeal out of an obligation to protect the privacy of our clients and preserve the integrity of our client relationships, we wish to continue working with the Office of the Attorney General and hope for a swift and successful conclusion to the investigation.

The spokesman said that Cushman and Wakefield's appraisers acted with the utmost integrity and professional judgement in their dealings with the Trump Organization.

We believe that the evidence shows that Cushman's appraisers exercised independent judgment and rejected suggestions from The Trump Organization or its outside counsel.

The investigation is looking at what she calls "repeated misstatements" in property valuations that former president Donald Trump has used to win hundreds of millions of dollars in bank loans and tax breaks.

Since January, James' office has said that it is investigating Trump and any individual or company that may have aided him in making false statements about the value of his assets.