Ivanka Trump began testifying Wednesday in the trial over allegations of corporate fraud against the family business, in an appearance she tried to avoid.
The statements of the eldest daughter of former President Donald Trump, who has been an advisor to her father in both business and politics, conclude an important phase of the trial. His father appeared in a combative session Monday, and his brothers Eric Trump and Donald Trump Jr. testified last week.
Unlike them, she is not a defendant in the lawsuit filed by New York Attorney General Letitia James, according to which Trump Sr. inflated the value of his assets in order to obtain loans and contracts with soft conditions.
The bench trial will decide allegations of conspiracy, insurance fraud and falsification of corporate balance sheets.
Judge Arthur Engoron has already ruled on the main charge, that Trump engaged in fraud, and this could strip the former president of iconic properties such as Trump Tower, although an appeals court has allowed him to continue having them, at least for now.
James, a Democrat, has called for a $300 million fine and for Trump to be banned from doing business in New York.
Trump, who leads the polls to be the Republican presidential candidate in the 2024 elections, denies all accusations, as have the other defendants. On Monday he insisted that in reality his assets are much greater than those indicated in the balance sheets, that any discrepancy is minor, that the documents contain a clause that exempts him from liability and that “this case is a disgrace.”
Ivanka Trump was executive vice president of the Trump Organization before serving as an unpaid adviser to her father’s presidency. Like her brothers, who remain executive vice presidents of the Trump Organization, she claims to have minimal knowledge of her father’s financial statements.
