OAN’s Brooke Mallory
5:06 PM – Wednesday, November 8, 2023
Ivanka Trump, who has distanced herself from her father’s business empire for years, testified on Wednesday as the last state witness in the $250 million civil fraud lawsuit brought by the New York attorney general against former President Donald Trump and his firm.
Ivanka resigned from her position at the family business back in 2017 and is not participating in her father’s 2024 presidential campaign. However, she was once the executive vice president of the Trump Organization and a top advisor to her father during his time as president.
Ivanka was first named as a defendant in a lawsuit brought by New York Attorney General Letitia James.
James claimed that Ivanka had a significant part in utilizing her father’s financial records to arrange commercial transactions that brought millions of dollars to her family’s company.
She was removed from the case by an appeals court in June due to the fact that the state’s statute of limitations did not apply to her alleged actions.
In a similar attempt to avoid testifying in court, Ivanka claimed that she lacked knowledge about the alleged crimes at issue. However, James countered in a filing, stating that Ivanka Trump “indisputably has personal knowledge of facts relevant to the claims.”
“They just want another free-for-all on another one of President Trump’s children,” said Chris Kise, one of Donald Trump’s attorneys.
Taking a stance with James, Judge Arthur Engoron forced Ivanka Trump to appear. Her application for an emergency stay was also turned down by an appeals court, citing the unreasonable difficulty of testifying “in the middle of a school week.”
Ivanka, having exhausted all legal options, dropped her appeal and, like her father and brothers, appeared in a New York courtroom to answer questions regarding her family’s business empire.
Donald Trump gave a testimony on Monday, while her brothers, Eric and Donald Trump Jr., also appeared in court last week. James’ lawsuit charges the Trump family with a ten-year fraud scheme to misrepresent their assets in order to obtain favorable insurance and loan conditions.
The trial will determine what further proceedings and, if any, penalties the defendants should face after the preliminary verdict by the case’s supervisory judge found that the Trumps are guilty of years’ worth of deception.
Trump and his sons have appealed the judge’s pretrial decision and denied any misconduct.
“This is a case that should have never been brought and it’s a case that should be immediately dismissed,” the former president said while leaving court.
After sitting for a deposition on August 3rd, 2022, Ivanka sat with the attorney general and denied any involvement with her father’s financial statements, which are the records at the core of James’ lawsuit.
“I have my own. I’ve never prepared one. I don’t know. I never made one. I’m not an accountant,” Ivanka Trump said.
When questioned about her participation, she gave answers concerning the claims made by her father and those made by the business.
“Do you have any recollection of your father having personal financial statements?” State attorney Louis Solomon asked.
“Not specifically,” Ivanka responded. “Well, see, I combine them all in my mind, like the statements of the company and… No, not specific to him,” she continued.
Last week, in court, Donald Trump Jr. testified that he approved of his father’s financial statements based on the counsel of his accountants.
Even though Ivanka is no longer a defendant in James’ case, her name has been coming up during the trial in relation to Deutsche Bank loans and a lease she arranged for a Washington, D.C., home.
James claims that Ivanka acted as the main point of contact for loans that relied on Donald Trump’s financial status between Deutsche Bank and the Trump Organization.
James also claims that in order to resolve concerns with the statements, Donald and Ivanka Trump even attended an in-person meeting. They allegedly presented Trump’s statement of financial status when they bid on the project.
Deutsche Bank lost $143 million in interest on loans connected to the three homes that Ivanka helped secure, the state’s “expert analysis” reported.
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