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The supplemental order is one of several that Manhattan Supreme Court Judge Arthur Engoron has issued over the past month asking the tax firm Morgan, Lewis & Bockius to turn over the documents that James’ 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.
Engoron wrote that he had privately reviewed documents that Trump tax attorney Sheri Dillon at Morgan Lewis & Bockius had to turn over, saying the documents he determined were not privileged to be turned over until the 4th February.
“The court finds that many of the communications Morgan Lewis characterized as privileged were communications about business tasks and decisions, not exchanges seeking or giving legal advice,” Engoron wrote in its order Friday.
The status of documents related to tax allowances of a property under investigation has been a point of contention in this case.
Amy Carlin, an attorney for the Trump organization, argued last month that the company had “every hope that these communications will be confidential,” regarding discussions over a Westchester County property 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 for “profit”, attorney Eric Haren told the attorney general’s office.
Haren said that “literally anything 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 former Trump attorney Michael Cohen told Congress that the former president’s annual financial statements inflated the value of his assets in order to guarantee favorable loans and insurance coverage, but have deflated their value. other assets to reduce property taxes.
CNN’s Caroline Kelly contributed to this report.
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