Ivanka Trump, the eldest daughter of former President Donald Trump, testified Wednesday in the $250 million civil fraud trial that threatens her family’s business empire.
Ivanka, who had tried in vain to avoid the witness stand, was asked about her involvement with loans for Trump Organization properties that feature in New York Attorney General Letitia James’ case. James accuses Trump Sr., Donald Trump Jr., Eric Trump and others of falsely inflating asset values to get tax benefits and other financial perks.
Ivanka testified that she knew little about the financial statements at the heart of the AG’s case, and that she had no role in preparing them.
“I had no involvement” in Donald Trump’s statements of financial condition and “don’t know about the valuations that were taken into account,” she said.
In addition to seeking a remarkable quarter of a billion dollars in damages, James wants the court to permanently bar the ex-president and his sons from running a business in New York.
“Ivanka Trump was cordial. She was disciplined. She was controlled. And she was very courteous, but her testimony raises some questions with regards to its credibility,” James said after leaving Manhattan Supreme Court later Wednesday.
“The reality is that based on the evidence, the documentary evidence, she clearly was involved in negotiating and securing loans favorable loans for the benefit of the Trump Organization, for Mr. Trump, and her brothers, and for herself,” James said.
“At the end of the day, this case is about fraudulent statements of financial condition that she benefited from.”
Ivanka Trump was originally listed as a co-defendant, but she was dismissed from the case in June after a New York appeals court found that the claims against her fell outside a statute of limitations.
Judge Arthur Engoron, who will deliver verdicts in the no-jury trial, has already found the defendants liable for fraudulently misstating the values of real estate properties and other assets on key financial forms. His pretrial ruling ordered the cancellation of their New York business certificates, though that order is on hold while the trial proceeds.
The trial itself will determine how much the defendants will be ordered to pay in damages or other penalties. The judge will also evaluate six other claims in James’ lawsuit that have yet to be resolved.
Ivanka Trump was an executive vice president for development and acquisitions at the Trump Organization until 2017, when she joined her father’s presidential administration as a senior advisor. She “negotiated and secured financing” for company properties and “directed all areas of the company’s real estate and hotel management platform,” according to James’ lawsuit.
During her testimony, Ivanka was asked about loans for the Old Post Office building — the former site of Trump’s Washington, D.C., hotel — and the Trump Doral property, both of which she is credited with having negotiated.
She also fielded questions about her penthouse apartment and her father’s introduction to the personal wealth management team at Deutsche Bank.
She frequently testified that she could not recall details about the documents that were presented to her in court.
Ivanka’s testimony follows that of her father on Monday, who angrily lashed out at James, Engoron and his other self-perceived “haters” from the witness stand.
Trump also repeatedly argued that a disclaimer notice on his annual statements of financial condition provided him with total protection against legal liability if the figures were inaccurate.
“That’s why we have a disclaimer clause in case there is a mistake,” Trump said. “There is a disclaimer clause, where you don’t have to get sued by the attorney general of New York.”
But the judge, Engoron, has already rejected Trump’s interpretation of liability.
The clause “does not say what defendants say it says, does not rise to the level of an enforceable disclaimer, and cannot be used to insulate fraud as to facts peculiarly within defendants’ knowledge,” Engoron wrote in his pretrial ruling on Sept. 26.
Trump Jr. and Eric Trump, who took over the Trump Organization as executive vice presidents after their father became president in 2017, were called to the stand last week. Both testified that they relied largely on the company accountants to prepare the annual financial statements and approve valuations.
Engoron on Oct. 27 ordered Ivanka Trump to comply with subpoenas for her testimony without any limitations.
Ivanka Trump appealed, and asked a New York appeals court to temporarily pause Engoron’s order. Her attorney argued that Ivanka, who lives in Florida, is “beyond the jurisdiction” of the New York court and would suffer “irreparable harm” if forced to testify.
The attorney also asserted that Ivanka Trump, who has three children, would face “undue hardship” if she has to appear “in the middle of a school week.”
Some legal experts swiftly chimed in to deride that argument as a poor excuse to avoid a court summons — especially for Ivanka Trump and her husband, Jared Kushner, whose combined net worth has been estimated to exceed $1 billion and can likely afford adequate child care.
Clarification: This story has been updated to clarify that Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner’s combined net worth has been estimated to exceed $1 billion.
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