Former President Donald Trump's son Eric pressured a real estate executive to inflate the value of an as-yet-unbuilt 71-unit residential development at the Trump National Golf Club in Westchester County, New York, ABC News reported on Thursday.
According to the report, David McArdle of the real estate company Cushman & Wakefield told the court at Trump's civil fraud trial that he was hired by the Trump Organization to assess the future value of the duplex units. When he determined they had a value of $40-45 million, Eric Trump demanded he go higher, he said.
"Eric loved this project. He thought it was very special," McArdle told the court, adding that, "Eric had certain ideas about value. They may have been more lofty than $45 million," but that he held firm on his estimate because it could be "under a lot of scrutiny by the IRS or a court" and "we were sort of at the end, and anything beyond $45 million would have put people at risk."
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In emails submitted as evidence, McArdle detailed Eric Trump's repeated attempts to persuade him.
"He continues to call me," McArdle wrote to a colleague. "I am uncomfortable not replying, please call him."
New York Attorney General Letitia James has argued that Trump and his two adult sons systematically overvalued Trump Organization holdings, sometimes even making up fictional square footage for their units in order to obtain more favorable loan deals and other arrangements. She is seeking $250 million in fines and the dissolution of the Trump Organization.
Trump has argued that his valuations were subjective, and that because they paid back all the fraudulently obtained loans, there was no actual injury.
State Judge Arthur Engoron has already ruled for James on the merits in summary judgment, and the trial is solely about assessing damages.
