A judge in New York ordered the Trump Organization to turn over communications previously withheld.
Judge Arthur Engoron ruled on Tuesday that the organization’s attorney-client privilege did not extend to an engineer at the president’s Seven Springs Estate. Seven Springs Estate in Westchester County has a conservation easement that allowed the Trump Organization to take a $21 million tax deduction in 2015.
Attorney General Tish James’s office is looking into whether the estate received an improper evaluation.
The attorney general requested documentation of communications between the organization and Ralph Mastromonaco, an engineer whose work was later used in the appraisal for the property. The Trump Organization argued that those communications were covered under attorney-client privilege because his work was used in the appraisal.
According to Bloomberg, attorney-client privilege can be extended to non-attorneys if the service they’ve provided to a lawyer was necessary, not just helpful. Engoron determined that the Trump Organization failed to reach that burden.
In November, Mastromonaco said he was interviewed by the attorney general’s office several months earlier and that only then did he become aware of the appraisal. He also said that he had only worked on the attempted subdivision of the property, which had taken place earlier.
“What is the evidence that Mastromonaco was acting as an expert to explain things?” the judge asked.
The Trump Organization will be forced to turn over all communications with Mastromonaco by Friday.
