The defense that Trump’s blathering real estate assessments were obviously not to be taken literally was on display Tuesday as his lawyers cross-examined a witness for New York Attorney General Letitia James, who is trying to topple the tycoon’s real estate empire and siphon $250 million or more from his bank accounts.
"These are unicorn properties,” he said, pointing to Trump Tower. "At 57th and Fifth, you're at the crossroads of the shopping capital of the world. What's the comp real estate? The Champs-Élysées?" In one example, assistant attorney general Mark Ladov pointed out how Trump seemed to double count the same commercial space at the Manhattan neo-Gothic skyscraper 40 Wall Street—tallying up the expected income from the Dean and DeLuca grocery store, but then also registering that same area as rentable space that could bring in even more cash.“I'm not sure what they did. I know in my June 2015 appraisal, Dean and DeLuca was included in the valuation,” he said.
After all, Garten noted to The Daily Beast, the banks could still rely on their own commissioned study.