A New York judge ordered Donald Trump’s daughter Ivanka Trump to testify at the ongoing trial of the state’s $250 million civil fraud lawsuit against the former president and his sprawling real estate company.
Justice Arthur Engoron on Friday denied Ivanka Trump’s request to strike down a subpoena by New York Attorney General Letitia James seeking her testimony about financial transactions, rejecting her argument that she no longer has sufficient business ties to New York to be subject to the court’s jurisdiction.
“Ms. Trump has clearly availed herself of the privilege of doing business in New York,” Engoron said after holding a brief hearing on the matter.
Donald Trump, the Republican frontrunner in the 2024 campaign for president, is accused of inflating his assets by billions of dollars in financial documents provided to banks and insurers. The New York trial is one of six he is facing as he seeks to return to the White House next year. Trump denies wrongdoing and says the case is part of a “witch hunt” by Democrats.
The former president’s daughter is scheduled to testify as soon as Nov. 3 if she fails to overturn the subpoena on appeal. She was initially a defendant in the suit, but she won dismissal by an appeals court earlier this year. Her lawyer argued the subpoena was a form of “harassment” to bypass her dismissal from the suit.
Trump’s adult sons Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump, who are defendants in the suit, are expected to testify as soon as Nov. 1 and Nov. 2, respectively, lawyers for the state told the judge on Friday. Trump would then testify Nov. 6.
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Lawyers for the attorney general argued in a Thursday court filing that Ivanka Trump’s testimony was crucial to the case due to her past close involvement with the Manhattan-based Trump Organization.
“While no longer a Defendant in this action, she indisputably has personal knowledge of facts relevant to the claims against the remaining individual and entity Defendants,” the state said. “But even beyond that, Ms. Trump remains financially and professionally intertwined with the Trump Organization and other Defendants and can be called as a person still under their control.”
The judge pointed to filings from the state that he said demonstrated that Ivanka Trump owns property and does business in the state. Engoron also said it was too late for her to submit a sworn affidavit verifying that she doesn’t transact business in New York, an idea floated by her lawyer in court on Friday.
Ivanka Trump’s lawyer also blasted the state in a court filing for insisting her testimony is crucial despite having never attempted to depose her before trial as the state did with her father and brothers.
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“Having ignored this purportedly essential testimony during the entire course of the case, the NYAG nonetheless attempts to conjure up a way to needlessly haul Ms. Trump into a highly publicized trial for the obvious purpose of harassment of both Ms. Trump and her father,” according to her lawyer’s court filing.
(Updates with state saying Trump’s children scheduled to testify next week.)
