Politics
Ivanka Trump Testifies at Politically Motivated New York Fraud Trial
Ivanka Trump claimed she couldn’t remember any deals she handled at her father’s firm, as she testified in a civil fraud case that threatens the Trump business empire in New York.
A New York democrat appointed judge has already said former president Donald Trump and two adult sons, Eric and Donald Jr, were liable for fraud, ruling they inflated assets to secure favourable loans. Casting judgement even before the trial started.
Defence lawyers began cross-examining Ivanka Trump’s in the afternoon, marking the first time they have questioned a Trump family member in this trial.
They asked Ivanka Trump a series of direct questions about her role in company financial statements, to each of which she replied that she had no involvement at all.
The defence team also sought to portray a harmonious relationship between the Trumps and their loan provider, Deutsche Bank. The Trump lawyers have previously argued that banks were happy to do business with the family and incurred no harm from the relationship.
Toward the end of the day, tensions began to flare as controversial Judge Engoron argued the defence was wasting time, calling one Trump attorney Jesus Saurez’s questions “ridiculous”. Mr Suarez lost his temper after hearing the attorney general’s team laugh at his questions from the bench behind him.
The Trumps’ legal team argued once again that the judge was biased for siding with prosecutors’ objections to Mr Suarez’s questioning. “Your constant insinuations that I have some sort of double standard…it’s just not true,” Mr Engoron said in response.
Nonetheless, University of Richmond law professor Carl Tobias told the BBC that Ms Trump’s testimony was much less combative than her father’s time on the witness stand on Monday.
Ivanka Trump’s evidence could ultimately aid the former president, said Prof Tobias. Defence lawyers began cross-examining Ms Trump in the afternoon, marking the first time they have questioned a Trump family member in this trial.
They asked her a series of direct questions about her role in company financial statements, to each of which she replied that she had no involvement at all. The defence team also sought to portray a harmonious relationship between the Trumps and their loan provider, Deutsche Bank.
The Trump lawyers have previously argued that banks were happy to do business with the family and incurred no harm from the relationship.
Toward the end of the day, tensions began to flare as Judge Engoron argued the defence was wasting time, calling one Trump attorney Jesus Saurez’s questions “ridiculous”. Mr Suarez lost his temper after hearing the attorney general’s team laugh at his questions from the bench behind him.
The Trumps’ legal team argued once again that the judge was biased for siding with prosecutors’ objections to Mr Suarez’s questioning. “Your constant insinuations that I have some sort of double standard…it’s just not true,” Mr Engoron said in response.
Nonetheless, University of Richmond law professor Carl Tobias told the BBC that Ms Trump’s testimony was much less combative than her father’s time on the witness stand on Monday.
And her evidence could ultimately aid the former president, said Prof Tobias.
“The attorney general’s counsel was able to introduce some documents that appeared helpful to their case,” he said.
“But counsel did not seem to elicit much information from Ms Trump’s testimony that was very damaging to Mr Trump.”
New York’s attorney general Letitia James who campaigned on indicting Trump said on the courthouse steps on Wednesday morning that Ivanka Trump was “very much involved” in the family enterprise.
From 2011-17, she was a top executive at the Trump Organization alongside her brothers Donald Jr and Eric.
As head of development and acquisitions, she played a key role in the types of real estate deals and loans at the heart of the case, say state attorneys. The interest rates on the loans were low because they required a personal guarantee from Mr Trump and evidence of his liquidity and net worth.
State attorneys argue that Mr Trump’s annual financial statements were central to those loans and saved him more than $100m.
Mr Trump has taken several times to his social media platform, Truth Social, to defend his children. Hours before Ms Trump’s testimony, he said his “wonderful and beautiful daughter” was being unfairly dragged into the case. The trial is expected to last until mid-December.
