Gov sets elex date, and says vote for Suozzi
Donald Trump’s “breathtaking” Mar-a-Lago abode was worth over $1 billion the year he left the White House, a luxury Palm Beach real estate broker with decades-ld ties to the former president told a Manhattan judge Tuesday.
Lawrence Moens — who said anyone from Elon Musk to Bill Gates to “kings, emperors, heads of state” would drop a billion dollars to buy Trump’s beloved Florida resort in his summer deposition — took the stand as one of the final witnesses for the defense at Trump’s civil fraud trial over strenuous objections from lawyers for the state.
“I work very hard to sell rich people property in Palm Beach,” testified Moens, a Mar-a-Lago member. “I’m on the front lines every day of selling properties, and I have a pretty good handle on what’s happening in the market.”
Trump, under a limited gag order for his online eruptions about the trial, has been particularly incensed over the depiction of his Florida home/private members club and scene of his alleged crimes in the classified documents case, saying he has, in fact, undervalued it, contrary to the judge and the AG’s findings. It’s one of several properties central to the lawsuit, with most in New York.
When he took the stand, he lambasted Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Arthur Engoron’s pretrial ruling determining he and his sons and top executives deceived banks and lenders about his net worth to profit illegally in business deals. The ruling accepted AG Letitia James’ findings that Mar-a-Lago couldn’t be valued as a private home.
The judge’s ruling outlined that Trump permanently relinquished his right to use it for anything other than a social club more than 20 years ago in a deed with the National Trust for Historic Preservation that limited what he could do with it and massively lowered the property taxes he’d owe.
Based on those land use restrictions, a Palm Beach County appraiser valued the property between $18 million and $27.6 million from 2011 to 2021.
Engoron’s ruling accepted the AG’s finding that Trump’s former company controller, Jeff McConney, ignored the deed and jacked its worth up by 2,300% in Trump’s annual financial statements during the same period — noting that was still lower than Moens’ estimates.
The judge sounded no less dubious of Moens’ contributions Wednesday and told Trump’s lawyers he considered the value irrelevant and the case about “whether the defendants used false documents in transactions.”
Though it was a moot point, with his decision finding the property could only be valued as a social club, Engoron allowed the realtor to give his take on what Mar-a-Lago would be worth were it a private dwelling. Moens acknowledged he had no experience selling private clubs.
Moens stood by his previous estimations, finding the property was worth between $655 million and $1 billion from 2011 to 2021.
Lawyers played a prepared video showing drone footage of Mar-a-Lago at sunset overlaid with stirring classical music. Moens said, among other methods, he compared the property hedged with waterfront views to others in the area, which have sold for astronomical price tags.
“What’s unique? Well, I mean, if it’s waterfront, it’s [in] a different league,” testified Moens, who said he first met Trump in the 1980s and that the pair had a “cordial” relationship.
“That gives you something added because water is more valuable or limited and in more demand, say, than the plethora of non-waterfront properties.”
Trump contended he retained the right to have the property where he’s hosted world leaders reclassified as a private residence when he testified, as did a real estate lawyer his lawyers called before Moens on Tuesday.
Defense lawyers said they no longer planned to call Eric Trump as a witness, who was slated to testify Wednesday. Trump is expected to return to the witness stand Monday before his lawyers rest their case and possibly beforehand.
The AG plans to present a brief rebuttal, and then Engoron will adjourn proceedings until the new year. He’s expected to hear closing arguments on Jan. 11 and issue a written verdict on the remaining six claims and how much Trump and his associates must pay back by January’s end. James’ office is seeking at least $300 million.
Gov. Hochul on Tuesday scheduled a special election for George Santos’ vacant House seat for Feb. 13 and threw her support behind the disgraced ex-congressman’s predecessor, Tom Suozzi, in his bid to run for the seat on the Democratic line.
In backing Suozzi, Hochul, a moderate Democrat, set aside lingering bitterness over Suozzi’s effort to unseat her in last year’s Democratic primary race for governor. With the governor’s green light, the state Democratic Party is expected to select Suozzi as its nominee in the special election.
But while Hochul has outsized sway as the de facto leader of New York Democrats, the state party’s final selection had not yet been made official Tuesday.
Jay Jacobs, chairman of the state Democratic Party and a Suozzi ally, said the party plans to finalize its pick Thursday.
“I’m certainly not going to make an announcement tonight,” he said by phone Tuesday evening.
Hochul made her decision after calling Suozzi to a meeting in Albany on Monday night and demanding that the centrist 61-yearold Long Islander run as a strong defender of abortion rights and promise not to run ads that hurt the Democratic Party’s brand, according to The New York Times, which previously reported on the governor’s move.
“Following the meeting in Albany, where Tom made critical assurances about fighting for abortion rights and running a winning campaign that benefits all Democrats, the governor will allow his nomination to move forward,” Brian Lenzmeier, a Hochul campaign spokesman, said in a statement.
In his own statement, Suozzi said he and Hochul had a “good meeting and cleared the air.”
“I appreciate her making the time,” Suozzi said in the statement. “At a time of strong political division I offered to be another moderate voice as the governor works to solve problems and make progress.”
Suozzi was not shy in attacking Hochul last year, calling her an “interim governor,” and suggesting she was weak on crime. But Suozzi would bring a proven track record to the House race — he served three terms in Congress before leaving to challenge Hochul.
Her less-than-overwhelming victory in the general election for governor has been blamed for Democratic midterm losses in Congress. Suozzi also appeared to open up a House race to a Republican victory by challenging the governor.