OMG. Trump’s “Appraiser” Just Sold Him Down the River

Maybe this is why Donald Trump went into Manhattan today. Maybe he wanted to be present for the testimony of his “appraiser,” one Doug Larson, of the real estate firm Newmark, who was listed in a series of Trump Organization documents as having appraised properties such as 40 Wall Street, Trump Tower, and Niketown, which is the retail space adjoining Trump Tower. Turns out that those appraisals never took place. OMG. Raw Story:

But under questioning by state attorney Mark Ladov, Larson denied having done the appraisal work.

“Is it fair to say that Mr. Trump valued Trump Tower at $526 million in conjunction with you?” said Ladov. “No, that is incorrect,” Larson replied.

“Were you aware that Mr. McConney was citing you as a valuation source in his work papers?” Ladov followed up. “No, I was not,” said Larson, clarifying he did not assess Trump Tower, Niketown, or 40 Wall Street.

This is some pretty damaging stuff. And the fact that this line of questioning went this far without one of Trump’s learned counsel leaping to the floor with an objection, indicates that either they didn’t know this was coming, or there was no valid objection to be made.

A real court is not like TV where lawyers shout out “objection” just for dramatic emphasis. In a real trial if you shout out “objection” it has to be followed up with a valid objection, such as “the prosecutor is leading the witness,” or “badgering the witness,” something to that effect, and then the judge will rule on that bit of minutiae with “sustained” or “denied.”

I went searching for video of this and wasn’t successful but I found a continuation of the line of questioning — and it gets worse. ABC News:

“Were you aware that Mr. McConney was citing you as a valuation source in his work papers?” Ladov asked.

“No, I was not,” replied Larson, who said he did not assist Trump Organization executives in valuing Trump Tower, Niketown, or 40 Wall Street, despite Trump’s paperwork referencing him as a source.

Evidence presented by the state instead suggested that the valuations were determined using cherry-picked metrics from a generic email Larson sent clients.

“It’s a way to get your name out to clients for potential work,” Larson said about one such “email blast” that was used in a Trump Tower valuation.

Larson added that the valuations Trump Organization executives determined based on “consultation” with him used flawed methodologies, such as using capitalization rates related to office buildings to appraise the retail Niketown building.

“It doesn’t make sense,” Larson said about Niketown’s $287 million valuation.

“It’s inappropriate and inaccurate,” Larson said about the Trump Organization relying on his name to support their valuations. “I should have been told, and appraisals should have been ordered.”

Sweet Jesus on a bagel. That is incriminating as all hell. “I should have been told.” Meaning Trump used the guy’s name, citing him as a professional source and the man didn’t even know his name was being used? OMG.

So what is Alina Habba’s role here today, she’s there as eye candy? Seems to me that this was a bigly loss today, considering how the gravamen of this entire dispute is that the State of New York is arguing that Trump’s holdings and financial statements were wildly and fraudulently valuated and the appraiser on some of their key holdings just sold them down the river.

Trump may be in town playing political martyr for MAGA but the facts that are coming out today in court are very bad. I would venture to say that Habba and his other lawyers are wondering how they’re going to fare after all this is over and the dust settles. Maybe they can all buy adjoining condos in Costa Rica or some place and get out of law altogether.