Ivanka Trump loses appeal to delay testimony in New York fraud trial
Ivanka Trump – the eldest daughter of former President Donald Trump — was unsuccessful in her attempt to stay her testimony in the ongoing Trump Organization trial in New York, and is now expected to take the stand next Wednesday.
CNN reported that lawyers representing the Trump scion argued that their client would suffer an "undue hardship" if made to travel to New York during a school week, as Ivanka Trump and her husband Jared Kushner have school-aged children in Florida, where they currently reside. This marks Trump's second loss in the trial, as her attempt to quash Judge Arthur Engoron's subpoena compelling her to testify was also unsuccessful.
The former First Daughter's legal team has previously sought to distance Ivanka from her father's business empire, stating that she left her role at the Trump Organization in 2017, when she moved out of New York and went to work for the Trump administration in Washington, DC. However, Judge Engoron countered that Ivanka's testimony is still relevant, citing her ties to New York-based businesses and her ownership of Manhattan real estate.
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The ongoing civil fraud trial will likely come to its conclusion soon after the testimony of the former president and his immediate family members. New York Attorney General Letitia James is accusing the Trump Organization of artificially inflating the value of its real estate portfolio by more than $2 billion over a 10-year period, and is seeking $250 million in damages. James also wants Trump and his adult children to be permanently prohibited from holding officer roles in any New York-based business in the future.
Ivanka Trump's testimony on Wednesday will come two days after her father takes the stand. The ex-president's other two adult children, Donald Jr. and Eric, each testified in the trial this week. Both maintained that they were routinely asked to sign off on documents that they didn't read in detail. In a video recently posted to X (formerly Twitter), James accused both of Trump's sons of lying under oath. She also warned the former president against "taunts, threats, and name calling."
"[Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump] pretend that they were not involved in their family's fraudulent business. But the facts tell a very different story," James said. "As a trustee of the Donald J. Trump Revocable Trust, Donald Trump Jr. often made financial and business decisions on behalf of his father... Those documents were not accurate, and he knew it."
"We will not be bullied out of uncovering the truth," James added.
READ MORE: Ivanka Trump ordered to testify in fraud case against father
