Ivanka Trump splits from Don Jr. and Eric as $250 million fraud trial looms

Ivanka Trump has hired her own counsel to represent her as she faces a possible court appearance in the $250 million tax fraud case filed against her, her father Donald Trump and her brothers Don Jr. and Eric in their capacity as officers in the Trump Organization, Forbes reports.

Previously the former "first daughter" shared an attorney with her two brothers but, with the case filed by New York Attorney General Letitia James looming, she is now going her own way.

According to a previous report from the New York Times, "Ms. James’s civil case, which was filed in September and is expected to go to trial later this year, accuses Mr. Trump, his family business and three of his children of a 'staggering' fraud for overvaluing the former president’s assets by billions of dollars. The lawsuit seeks $250 million that Ms. James contends the Trumps reaped through those deceptions, and asks a judge to essentially run the former president out of business in the state if he is found liable at trial."

Forbes reported that, when James began her investigation, Don Jr and Eric hired Clifford Robert and Michael Farina of Robert & Robert to represent them and Ivanka agreed to be represented by the same attorneys soon after. The two were working as "local counsels" with another two Washington, DC-based attorneys that Ivanka had hired independently of her brothers, Reid Figel and Michael Kellogg of Kellogg Hansen.

Now, she's apparently had second thoughts and dropped all of the lawyers to retain a different firm.

The report states, "On Tuesday, the attorneys representing just Ivanka, Figel and Kellogg, withdrew from the case. Three days later, Bennet Moskowitz of Troutman Pepper informed the court that he was taking over as Ivanka’s counsel and that Robert and Farina, the attorneys Ivanka shared with her brothers, were no longer representing her."

According to Forbes, a schism on legal strategy appears to have occurred in March when Ivanka asked to delay the trial in a letter to Judge Arthur Engeron with the claim, "The complaint does not contain a single allegation that Ms. Trump directly or indirectly created, prepared, reviewed or certified any of her father’s financial statements. The complaint affirmatively alleges that other individuals were responsible for those tasks.”"

Forbes also notes that Ivanka Trump's new attorney Bennet Moskowitz previously represented the estate of Jeffrey Epstein.

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