NEW YORK — Ivanka Trump testified repeatedly that she could not recall documents and emails related to the Trump Organization when the state attorney general's office confronted her about them during her father's civil fraud trial in a lower Manhattan courtroom on Wednesday.
Former President Donald Trump's eldest daughter spent hours on the witness stand, where she denied knowledge of "granular" financial details contained in the documents while undergoing both direct questioning from Attorney General Letitia James's team and cross-examination from her father's defense counsel.
BIDEN CAMPAIGN TAKES VICTORY LAP ON DEMOCRATIC WINS AFTER POOR POLLING
Her consistently measured responses stood in contrast to Donald Trump's contentious testimony from Monday when Judge Arthur Engoron scolded the former president for giving political "speeches" instead of answering questions directly.
Ivanka Trump's appearance comes after James alleged in a sweeping complaint last year that Donald Trump, three of his adult children, and two business partners conspired to overstate his net worth by billions of dollars over several years to secure better interest rates on loans and other favorable financial terms.
Ivanka Trump, an executive vice president at the Trump Organization until 2017, successfully had her name dropped from the case in June after arguing her narrow role in managing two redevelopment projects, the Doral resort in Miami and the Trump International Hotel in Washington, D.C., occurred outside the statute of limitations.
A New York appeals court found in the June decision that the six-year statute of limitations ruled out any alleged wrongdoing in the case before February 2016. Engoron has decided that based on that ruling, James could use evidence from before that time if it involved future business activity that extended beyond 2016.
The attorney general still called Ivanka Trump to testify for the day as a witness to her father's business operation despite failing to pin her as a defendant.
In September, Engoron found Donald Trump, his sons Eric Trump and Donald Trump Jr., and two Trump Organization executives liable for business fraud, and the trial is now largely intended to assess their penalties. James seeks $250 million in damages and aims to ban Trump from conducting business in New York, where a concentration of the Trump Organization's premier properties are located.
James's attorney Louis Solomon showed evidence on Wednesday that Ivanka Trump in 2011 was part of email exchanges referencing discussions about loan interest rates. The loans, obtained through private lender Deutsche Bank, were contingent upon Donald Trump serving as a guarantor so long as he maintained a certain minimum net worth that excluded his brand value.
“I don’t remember having these conversations other than very high level,” Ivanka Trump said.
Solomon became frustrated and even incredulous at times as the former president's daughter continuously said she could not recall specific information.
Ivanka Trump was, for instance, asked about whether Donald Trump discussed his financial statements and net worth at a meeting they both attended in 2011 regarding the Old Post Office, later known as the Trump International Hotel. She said she did not remember that but that she instead remembered how she presented a "vision" and how she used the "iconic Plaza Hotel" to illustrate her family's redevelopment abilities to the General Services Administration, which owned the asset.
"She just spent three minutes describing the Plaza Hotel, how it’s similar to this!” Solomon yelled. “But she has no recollection when I ask her a question?”
Jesus Suarez led the cross-examination, which marked the beginning of Trump's defense team's portion of the trial and the conclusion of James's. The trial began on Oct. 2, and Trump attorney Chris Kise estimated this week that his team would conclude their side of the case by Dec. 15.
Suarez aggressively zeroed in on Deutsche Bank's desire to maintain the Trumps as a client.
He highlighted how Deutsche Bank would sometimes offer the Trumps new banking opportunities and how its executives sought to showcase the bank's relationship with the Trumps publicly, signaling how much the bank valued the Trumps as a client.
Suarez displayed several emails underscoring his point. In one email, Deutsche Bank's Rosemary Vrablic wrote to Ivanka Trump asking her to participate in an apparent public relations video for the bank. In another, Vrablic expressed warm sentiments about how she found Ivanka Trump's accomplishments at Doral "very impressive" after personally visiting and touring the property.
Ivanka Trump became more candid and sentimental as she recalled how she focused on the physical aspects of her two Trump Organization acquisitions, indicating her memory was more vivid in that arena.
For Doral, Ivanka Trump said her father was responsible for the redevelopment of the golf course while she focused on the rest of the resort's renovations.
“My father has a particular affinity for golf and a particular vision for that,” Ivanka Trump said with a smile, noting the former president "loved" the property and wanted to see it reach its full physical and operational potential.
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
Deutsche Bank was "quite excited" by Donald Trump’s vision for the Doral property, she said, adding that the bank sent teams of people down to tour it amid the Trump Organization's acquisition of it.
While no witnesses are scheduled for Thursday, Donald Trump's defense team is expected to file motions this week, including a mistrial motion, before fully diving into their side of the case next week.