Ivanka Trump posted a photo in black and with her wife of her reflection from inside a Manhattan skyscraper a day after trying to distance herself from the Trump Organization during an appearance on the stand in the trial for fraud by his father.
Ivanka, who left the family business in 2017 for a key White House role, on Wednesday closed a major step in the lawsuit that could reshape Donald Trump’s real estate empire.
Before her appearance, the ex-president described his daughter as “wonderful” and “beautiful” in an article on TruthSocial.
He added that his daughter would “flourish” in front of the “Trump Hating, Clubhouse out-of-control judge Arthur Engoron, who viciously ruled against me before the trial even began.”
Ivanka followed her father and brothers Eric and Donald Trump Jr. to the witness stand, and the New York attorney general’s office ended her testimony after her testimony. It’s now up to the defense to play. Following the testimony, rumors circulated that Ivanka had undergone plastic surgery.
Shortly after her infamous court appearance in which she attempted to distance herself from her father’s affairs, Ivanka reflected on social media.
Ivanka spoke out to face questions that could make or break Attorney General Letitia James’ $250 million lawsuit against her father and brothers, which could sink their business empire.
Ivanka was part of her father’s inner circle in both business and politics, serving as executive vice president of the family’s Trump Organization and then as a senior adviser at the White House.
In response to his latest Instagram post, Trump supporter Lex Fridman wrote: “Stay strong.” While David Herrold said: “I pray for your father and your family. »
Ivanka testified that she had no role in his personal financial statements, which New York Attorney General Letitia James said were fraudulently inflated and deceived by banks and lenders.
“These were not things that I was aware of,” other than seeing “a few documents and correspondence” that referenced them, Ivanka Trump said.
The ex-president and Republican favorite for 2024 denies any wrongdoing.
He insisted in court Monday that his financial statements greatly underestimated his net worth, that the discrepancies were minor, that a disclaimer exempted him from liability and that “this case is a disgrace “.
In tempered testimony that offered a counterpoint to her father’s caustic speech on the stand, Ivanka Trump touched on some of the same notes the ex-president has hammered inside and outside of court – describing the Trump Organization as a successful developer of large companies. dollar projects that satisfied its lenders.
The Doral Golf Resort in Florida? A “Herculean” renovation undertaken to refurbish a faded treasure that Donald Trump visited as a child, his daughter testified.
Protesters chanting “lock him up” and shouting “fraud” against Ivanka gathered outside the court Wednesday morning.
Eric Trump, Donald Trump Jr, Ivanka Trump and Donald Trump in July 2014 during the inauguration ceremony of the Trump International Hotel in Washington DC
Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump with their three children Arabella, Theodore and Joseph on a walk in Miami in October
The historic building of the company’s former post office, transformed into a hotel in Washington? “A labor of love” to transform a dilapidated building into a luxury hotel, all while obtaining approvals from a multitude of different government agencies.
“These were complicated projects and I think we exceeded all the criteria,” she said.
But when questions about the post office project turned into questions raised by its government owners about aspects of her father’s financial statements, she said she didn’t remember them.
The agency overseeing the bidding told her of those concerns in a December 2011 letter, and Trump Organization executives briefed her as they prepared a response ahead of a presentation to officials at Washington.
An agency document shows the company addressed the issues during its presentation, which it attended.
But Ivanka Trump said she didn’t remember “them discussing the financial statements specifically.” Instead, she remembers talking about “our vision for the project” and the company’s experience, with her father mentioning his renovation of New York’s famous Plaza Hotel.
She retained an interest in the Washington hotel’s lease until its sale in 2022, which netted her $4 million.
Unlike her father and adult sons, Ivanka Trump is no longer charged in the case, and her lawyers had tried to prevent her from having to testify.
Ordered to do so, she said she largely did not remember the documents and details she was questioned about.
Ivanka Trump’s relationship with her father took a rocky turn after her testimony before the House committee on January 6
Over the course of about four hours of polite responses punctuated by broad smiles, she once thanked a lawyer in Attorney General James’s office for bringing up the Old Post Office proposal because it “reminded her of a lot of memories “.
“Ivanka Trump was cordial, disciplined, controlled and very courteous,” James, a Democrat, said in court.
But she added: “This case concerns fraudulent statements about the financial situation from which she benefited.
She got rich. And it is clear that you cannot distance yourself from this fact.
James’ legal team and Trump’s defense attorneys clashed repeatedly Wednesday over the scope of Ivanka Trump’s questions, including whether she could be questioned about 2013 emails that included her husband, Jared Kushner. , in discussions about potential loans from the Trump company.
Kushner – himself a real estate executive – did not work for the Trump Organization. But he introduced his wife to a Deutsche Bank banker while the Trumps were seeking financing to buy and renovate Doral, Ivanka Trump testified.
Because he also worked in real estate, they sometimes exchanged ideas and advice, she said.
She became the key person in establishing a lending relationship with Deutsche Bank’s private wealth management arm. He ultimately gave the Trump Organization hundreds of millions of dollars in loans, with conditions that required Donald Trump to submit his financial statements every year.
Among assets such as Trump Tower, the Mar-a-Lago club in Florida and Doral, the financial statements included a building owned by Trump on Park Avenue in New York. Ivanka Trump had rented there and had the option to buy two apartments, and state lawyers say her father gave her a steep discount while claiming in his financial statements that the apartments were worth much more.
Donald Trump after testifying Monday at his civil trial in New York
The 42-year-old mother of three looks at the doorman as she leaves her home
She then got into an SUV to go to court in Lower Manhattan.
She testified that she invested more than $7.5 million in one of the apartments, a penthouse, but never made it her permanent home because she and her family moved to Washington.
She left her position at the Trump Organization in the run-up to her father’s inauguration in 2017, and she became an unpaid senior adviser. After the Trump administration ended, she and her family moved to Florida.
The nonjury trial will decide allegations of conspiracy, insurance fraud and falsification of business records — but Judge Arthur Engoron has already resolved the trial’s main allegation by ruling that Trump engaged in fraud.
The move came with provisions that could strip the ex-president of oversight of properties as prestigious as Trump Tower, although an appeals court will allow him to continue to control his assets for now.
James, a Democrat, is seeking more than $300 million in penalties and a ban on Trump doing business in New York.
With the case now turning to the defense, the Trumps’ lawyers plan to argue Thursday that the judge should immediately rule in their favor.
“The attorney general has closed his case and it is very clear that he has failed to prove the essential elements of the case,” Trump lawyer Alina Habba said in court.
Eric Trump and Donald Trump Jr., who still serve as executive vice presidents of the Trump Organization, have also said they have minimal knowledge of their father’s annual financial statements.
Donald Trump Jr. testified that he only processed the documents in passing; Eric Trump said he relies entirely on accountants and lawyers to ensure the documents are accurate.
