Ivanka Trump to take the stand Wednesday in the New York civil fraud trial
From CNN's Kara Scannell and Piper Hudspeth Blackburn
Ivanka Trump is taking the stand Wednesday as the last witness before the prosecution rests its case in the New York civil fraud trial against her father and his company.
It comes after she withdrew her appeal of a judge’s order requiring her to testify at her father’s civil fraud trial last week after an appellate court refused to pause her testimony.
Ivanka Trump was previously dismissed as a co-defendant in the New York case against former President Donald Trump, two of his adult sons and his company. Multiple attempts by her legal team to delay her testimony have been rebuffed.
Last week, an appeals court denied Ivanka Trump’s request to postpone her testimony until her lawyers could make arguments before the panel that she shouldn’t be required to appear. She had also asked the court to pause the entire fraud trial.
The former president’s eldest daughter had claimed she would suffer “undue hardship” if she were made to testify during the school week, as she lives in Florida with three minor children. Her team has also argued that the New York civil court has no jurisdiction to compel her testimony since she is no longer a defendant in the lawsuit and does not live in New York state. New York Judge Arthur Engoron previously rejected those arguments.
Her attorneys, in dropping the appeal Friday, said it is now “moot” because she is scheduled to testify on Wednesday before she can make her legal arguments.
Ivanka Trump’s brothers, Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump, appeared in court last week. Both men helped run the Trump Organization while their father was in the White House.
15 min ago
Ivanka Trump has arrived at court
From CNN's Kristina Sgueglia
Ivanka Trump arrives at the New York State Supreme Court in New York City on November 8. Timothy A. Clary/AFP/Getty Images
Ivanka Trump has arrived at court in New York.
She is expected to testify in former president Donald Trump's civil fraud trial as the final witness for the New York attorney general’s office.
Court resumes at 10 a.m. ET.
8 min ago
Trump took the stand earlier this week. Here's what happened in court
From CNN's Jeremy Herb, Lauren del Valle and Kara Scannell
Former President Donald Trump prepares to testify during his trial at New York State Supreme Court on November 6. Brendan McDermid/AFP/Getty Images
Donald Trump brought bombastic rhetoric to the witness stand Monday in the civil fraud case against him and his business – as he spent his time on the stand attacking the New York attorney general who brought the case and the judge overseeing the trial itself.
Trump’s testimony at times mimicked his appearances on the campaign trail, where the former president has made the four criminal cases against him — along with the New York attorney general’s civil fraud case — a central part of his argument to be elected president again in 2024.
Judge Arthur Engoron, who has clashed with Trump throughout the trial, at first tried to stop the former president’s political barbs and speechifying, telling his lawyer Chris Kise to “control your client” and threatening to have Trump removed as a witness. Eventually, the judge stopped trying to control Trump — he and the attorney general’s lawyer questioning Trump let him rant, and then mostly disregarded the missives.
The high-stakes civil case strikes at the heart of Trump’s brand — his real estate empire. New York Attorney General Letitia James is suing Trump for $250 million and seeking to bar him from doing business in the state. Engoron has already ruled Trump and his co-defendants were liable for fraud. The New York attorney general’s office said it will rest its case after Ivanka Trump’s testimony on Wednesday.
Trump's campaign comes to the courtroom: The former president’s rhetoric at times during his testimony might as well have been at one of his rallies in front of supporters. He went after the attorney general. The judge. And the “political witch hunt” that he’s been railing against for years now. On the witness stand, the charged rhetoric was even more remarkable, as he attacked the judge sitting right next to him, with James in the courtroom watching his testimony just feet away. “The fraud is on the court, not on me,” Trump said.
Trump gets an angry response from the judge: Judge Engoron tried at the outset of Trump’s testimony to stop the former president from making speeches and instead answer the questions, but it did little to change Trump’s approach. The judge responded by threatening to remove Trump from the witness stand, though that didn’t deter the former president either. “This is not a political rally,” Engoron said to Trump, telling Trump's attorney Christopher Kise to “control your client.”
Trump acknowledges changing valuation of Trump Tower triplex: The attorney general’s office pressed Trump on the properties central to his identity and brand: Mar-a-Lago, Trump Tower and other key parts of his real estate empire. The AG's office attorney Kevin Wallace also pressed Trump on why valuations of properties were changed, such as his Trump Tower triplex, which was devalued on his financial statement in 2017 after a Forbes article found he had dramatically exaggerated the size of the apartment. Trump acknowledged there had on occasion been mistakes, such as the Trump Tower apartment valuation.
Trump’s descriptions of his properties: The former president’s rhetorical flourishes went beyond attacking those who are investigating him. He also took the opportunity to play salesman and play up his properties. One of his chief complaints about the judge is a citation in his decision that Mar-a-Lago was worth $18 million, a number based on Florida tax appraisal records. “It’s much more valuable,” Trump said of Mar-a-Lago, “and we’ll show that in two weeks or five weeks or nine weeks or whenever this thing goes, that it’s biggest value is using it as a club.” Wallace took the answer to pin him down on that valuation. “You believe that as of today Mar-a-Lago is worth $1.5 billion?” Wallace asked. “I think between a billion and a billion-five,” Trump responded.
37 min ago
Here's what to watch for when Ivanka Trump testifies today
From CNN's Jeremy Herb, Lauren del Valle and Kara Scannell
Ivanka Trump attends a meeting at the White House in 2020. Doug Mills/Getty Images
Donald Trump’s daughter Ivanka Trump is testifying Wednesday in the former president’s civil fraud trial as the final witness for the New York attorney general’s office.
While Ivanka Trump is no longer a defendant in Attorney General Letitia James’ case after an appellate court removed her as a defendant earlier this year, she is still likely to be pressed about her role securing financing for properties when she worked at the Trump Organization, as well as the valuation of an apartment she leased in one of her father’s Manhattan buildings.
Her testimony comes after her father’s Monday appearance on the witness stand, in which the former president badgered the judge and the attorney general with political attacks that frequently irked Judge Arthur Engoron.
There may not be as many fireworks with Ivanka Trump’s appearance Wednesday, but there has been plenty of drama surrounding her testimony. She had filed a motion to quash the subpoena requiring her testimony, but Engoron ruled she was required to testify. An appellate court denied her motion for a stay, despite her saying it would be difficult to appear during a school week.
Ivanka Trump’s brothers, Eric Trump and Donald Trump Jr., who are co-defendants in the case, testified last week.
Here’s what to watch for during her testimony:
Ivanka Trump is knowledgeable about allegations included in the civil fraud trial, where the attorney general is seeking $250 million in damages and to bar Trump from doing business in the state.
She worked at the Trump Organization as an executive before moving to the White House as a senior aide along with her husband, Jared Kushner, in 2017.
The initial lawsuit filed by the attorney general last September pointed to Ivanka Trump’s involvement in securing a loan for purchasing Trump’s Doral golf course in Florida and Chicago properties in 2012, which the attorney general alleges were extended in part because of Trump’s personal financial statements that inflated his assets.
“On each of those transactions with Deutsche Bank, Ms. Trump was aware that the transactions included a personal guaranty from Mr. Trump that required him to provide annual Statements of Financial Condition and certifications,” the complaint states.
Trump was asked Monday to verify that he signed those loan agreements and he understood they included clauses requiring a minimum net worth and annual financial statements.
Ivanka was also involved in the bidding on the Old Post Office in Washington, DC, which Trump converted to a hotel before selling the property last year.
Trump has complained that he wants a jury. Here's why the fate of the fraud case against him is up to a judge
From CNN's Hannah Rabinowitz and Jeremy Herb
Former President Donald Trump has complained repeatedly that the civil trial in New York, where he’s accused of business fraud, does not have a jury — and the fate of the case is up to Judge Arthur Engoron.
Trump’s lawyers say the New York state law that state Attorney General Letitia James used to bring the complaint against him — a civil statute giving the state attorney general wide latitude to go after “persistent fraud” in business — did not allow him to request a jury trial.
But legal experts familiar with New York state law say that the question of whether Trump could have sought a jury trial is complicated. While Trump may not have been likely to succeed, experts said the question of a jury trial is something that Trump’s lawyers could have tried to litigate.
“It’s not entirely clear whether Trump would have been entitled to a jury trial under New York law – that would depend on nuanced legal determinations about the nature of the remedy sought by the attorney general,” said Elie Honig, a CNN senior legal analyst and former federal and New Jersey prosecutor. “But Trump’s legal team absolutely could have requested a jury, litigated the issue, and then appealed had they lost.”
At the start of the trial, Engoron noted that no parties in the case requested a jury trial and that the law mandated a “bench trial” decided by a judge.
“You have probably noticed or already read that this case has no jury,” Engoron said. “Neither side asked for one and, in any event, the remedies sought are all equitable in nature, mandating that the trial be a bench trial, one that a judge alone decides.”
Trump’s lawyers have pushed back on the notion that they failed to request a jury trial, as some have suggested based on paperwork filed in the case.
“Under 63 (12), which is what this case is, you don’t have a right, an absolute right to a jury,” Trump lawyer Alina Habba said on Fox News previously.
A Trump spokesperson said that the attorney general “filed this case under a consumer protection statute that denies the right to a jury.”
“There was never an option to choose a jury trial,” the spokesperson said. “It is unfortunate that a jury won’t be able to hear how absurd the merits of this case are and conclude no wrongdoing ever happened.”
In other legal cases that the former president has faced, however, Trump and his attorneys have lamented that he is unable to receive a fair verdict from a jury in New York. After a New York jury found that Trump sexually abused E. Jean Carroll in 1996, attorney Joe Tacopina said that Trump is “firm in his belief” that he cannot get a fair trial in New York City “based on the jury pool.”
Donald Trump's daughter Ivanka Trump is expected to take the stand Wednesday in the New York civil fraud trial against her father and his company. The attorney general's office said it plans to rest its case after her testimony.
The former president took the stand Monday and was pressed about the values of his properties — and his role in their appraisals. His adult sons testified last week about their knowledge of and involvement with Trump's financial statements.
The $250 million lawsuit brought by the New York attorney general's office alleges Trump and his co-defendants committed repeated fraud in inflating assets on financial statements to get better terms on commercial real estate loans and insurance policies.
The case is civil, not criminal, but threatens Trump's business in New York. The New York attorney general is seeking to bar Trump from doing business in the state and to dissolve his companies.
Ivanka Trump is taking the stand Wednesday as the last witness before the prosecution rests its case in the New York civil fraud trial against her father and his company.
It comes after she withdrew her appeal of a judge’s order requiring her to testify at her father’s civil fraud trial last week after an appellate court refused to pause her testimony.
Ivanka Trump was previously dismissed as a co-defendant in the New York case against former President Donald Trump, two of his adult sons and his company. Multiple attempts by her legal team to delay her testimony have been rebuffed.
Last week, an appeals court denied Ivanka Trump’s request to postpone her testimony until her lawyers could make arguments before the panel that she shouldn’t be required to appear. She had also asked the court to pause the entire fraud trial.
The former president’s eldest daughter had claimed she would suffer “undue hardship” if she were made to testify during the school week, as she lives in Florida with three minor children. Her team has also argued that the New York civil court has no jurisdiction to compel her testimony since she is no longer a defendant in the lawsuit and does not live in New York state. New York Judge Arthur Engoron previously rejected those arguments.
Her attorneys, in dropping the appeal Friday, said it is now “moot” because she is scheduled to testify on Wednesday before she can make her legal arguments.
Ivanka Trump’s brothers, Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump, appeared in court last week. Both men helped run the Trump Organization while their father was in the White House.
Ivanka Trump arrives at the New York State Supreme Court in New York City on November 8. Timothy A. Clary/AFP/Getty Images
Ivanka Trump has arrived at court in New York.
She is expected to testify in former president Donald Trump's civil fraud trial as the final witness for the New York attorney general’s office.
Court resumes at 10 a.m. ET.
Former President Donald Trump prepares to testify during his trial at New York State Supreme Court on November 6. Brendan McDermid/AFP/Getty Images
Donald Trump brought bombastic rhetoric to the witness stand Monday in the civil fraud case against him and his business – as he spent his time on the stand attacking the New York attorney general who brought the case and the judge overseeing the trial itself.
Trump’s testimony at times mimicked his appearances on the campaign trail, where the former president has made the four criminal cases against him — along with the New York attorney general’s civil fraud case — a central part of his argument to be elected president again in 2024.
Judge Arthur Engoron, who has clashed with Trump throughout the trial, at first tried to stop the former president’s political barbs and speechifying, telling his lawyer Chris Kise to “control your client” and threatening to have Trump removed as a witness. Eventually, the judge stopped trying to control Trump — he and the attorney general’s lawyer questioning Trump let him rant, and then mostly disregarded the missives.
The high-stakes civil case strikes at the heart of Trump’s brand — his real estate empire. New York Attorney General Letitia James is suing Trump for $250 million and seeking to bar him from doing business in the state. Engoron has already ruled Trump and his co-defendants were liable for fraud. The New York attorney general’s office said it will rest its case after Ivanka Trump’s testimony on Wednesday.
Trump's campaign comes to the courtroom: The former president’s rhetoric at times during his testimony might as well have been at one of his rallies in front of supporters. He went after the attorney general. The judge. And the “political witch hunt” that he’s been railing against for years now. On the witness stand, the charged rhetoric was even more remarkable, as he attacked the judge sitting right next to him, with James in the courtroom watching his testimony just feet away. “The fraud is on the court, not on me,” Trump said.
Trump gets an angry response from the judge: Judge Engoron tried at the outset of Trump’s testimony to stop the former president from making speeches and instead answer the questions, but it did little to change Trump’s approach. The judge responded by threatening to remove Trump from the witness stand, though that didn’t deter the former president either. “This is not a political rally,” Engoron said to Trump, telling Trump's attorney Christopher Kise to “control your client.”
Trump acknowledges changing valuation of Trump Tower triplex: The attorney general’s office pressed Trump on the properties central to his identity and brand: Mar-a-Lago, Trump Tower and other key parts of his real estate empire. The AG's office attorney Kevin Wallace also pressed Trump on why valuations of properties were changed, such as his Trump Tower triplex, which was devalued on his financial statement in 2017 after a Forbes article found he had dramatically exaggerated the size of the apartment. Trump acknowledged there had on occasion been mistakes, such as the Trump Tower apartment valuation.
Trump’s descriptions of his properties: The former president’s rhetorical flourishes went beyond attacking those who are investigating him. He also took the opportunity to play salesman and play up his properties. One of his chief complaints about the judge is a citation in his decision that Mar-a-Lago was worth $18 million, a number based on Florida tax appraisal records. “It’s much more valuable,” Trump said of Mar-a-Lago, “and we’ll show that in two weeks or five weeks or nine weeks or whenever this thing goes, that it’s biggest value is using it as a club.” Wallace took the answer to pin him down on that valuation. “You believe that as of today Mar-a-Lago is worth $1.5 billion?” Wallace asked. “I think between a billion and a billion-five,” Trump responded.
Ivanka Trump attends a meeting at the White House in 2020. Doug Mills/Getty Images
Donald Trump’s daughter Ivanka Trump is testifying Wednesday in the former president’s civil fraud trial as the final witness for the New York attorney general’s office.
While Ivanka Trump is no longer a defendant in Attorney General Letitia James’ case after an appellate court removed her as a defendant earlier this year, she is still likely to be pressed about her role securing financing for properties when she worked at the Trump Organization, as well as the valuation of an apartment she leased in one of her father’s Manhattan buildings.
Her testimony comes after her father’s Monday appearance on the witness stand, in which the former president badgered the judge and the attorney general with political attacks that frequently irked Judge Arthur Engoron.
There may not be as many fireworks with Ivanka Trump’s appearance Wednesday, but there has been plenty of drama surrounding her testimony. She had filed a motion to quash the subpoena requiring her testimony, but Engoron ruled she was required to testify. An appellate court denied her motion for a stay, despite her saying it would be difficult to appear during a school week.
Ivanka Trump’s brothers, Eric Trump and Donald Trump Jr., who are co-defendants in the case, testified last week.
Here’s what to watch for during her testimony:
Ivanka Trump is knowledgeable about allegations included in the civil fraud trial, where the attorney general is seeking $250 million in damages and to bar Trump from doing business in the state.
She worked at the Trump Organization as an executive before moving to the White House as a senior aide along with her husband, Jared Kushner, in 2017.
The initial lawsuit filed by the attorney general last September pointed to Ivanka Trump’s involvement in securing a loan for purchasing Trump’s Doral golf course in Florida and Chicago properties in 2012, which the attorney general alleges were extended in part because of Trump’s personal financial statements that inflated his assets.
“On each of those transactions with Deutsche Bank, Ms. Trump was aware that the transactions included a personal guaranty from Mr. Trump that required him to provide annual Statements of Financial Condition and certifications,” the complaint states.
Trump was asked Monday to verify that he signed those loan agreements and he understood they included clauses requiring a minimum net worth and annual financial statements.
Ivanka was also involved in the bidding on the Old Post Office in Washington, DC, which Trump converted to a hotel before selling the property last year.
Former President Donald Trump has complained repeatedly that the civil trial in New York, where he’s accused of business fraud, does not have a jury — and the fate of the case is up to Judge Arthur Engoron.
Trump’s lawyers say the New York state law that state Attorney General Letitia James used to bring the complaint against him — a civil statute giving the state attorney general wide latitude to go after “persistent fraud” in business — did not allow him to request a jury trial.
But legal experts familiar with New York state law say that the question of whether Trump could have sought a jury trial is complicated. While Trump may not have been likely to succeed, experts said the question of a jury trial is something that Trump’s lawyers could have tried to litigate.
“It’s not entirely clear whether Trump would have been entitled to a jury trial under New York law – that would depend on nuanced legal determinations about the nature of the remedy sought by the attorney general,” said Elie Honig, a CNN senior legal analyst and former federal and New Jersey prosecutor. “But Trump’s legal team absolutely could have requested a jury, litigated the issue, and then appealed had they lost.”
At the start of the trial, Engoron noted that no parties in the case requested a jury trial and that the law mandated a “bench trial” decided by a judge.
“You have probably noticed or already read that this case has no jury,” Engoron said. “Neither side asked for one and, in any event, the remedies sought are all equitable in nature, mandating that the trial be a bench trial, one that a judge alone decides.”
Trump’s lawyers have pushed back on the notion that they failed to request a jury trial, as some have suggested based on paperwork filed in the case.
“Under 63 (12), which is what this case is, you don’t have a right, an absolute right to a jury,” Trump lawyer Alina Habba said on Fox News previously.
A Trump spokesperson said that the attorney general “filed this case under a consumer protection statute that denies the right to a jury.”
“There was never an option to choose a jury trial,” the spokesperson said. “It is unfortunate that a jury won’t be able to hear how absurd the merits of this case are and conclude no wrongdoing ever happened.”
In other legal cases that the former president has faced, however, Trump and his attorneys have lamented that he is unable to receive a fair verdict from a jury in New York. After a New York jury found that Trump sexually abused E. Jean Carroll in 1996, attorney Joe Tacopina said that Trump is “firm in his belief” that he cannot get a fair trial in New York City “based on the jury pool.”
