Ivanka Trump's Hopes Crushed By NY Judge Of Avoiding Daddy's Trial

It seems Ivanka Trump's best efforts to avoid testifying in her dad's trial have gone down the drain!

The socialite is now scheduled to testify against her father, Donald Trump, the former president of the United States. The $250 million civil fraud trial against him, his eldest sons, their companies, and Trump Organization executives opened on October 2, 2023, in Manhattan and had him in attendance.

A New York judge delivered the shocking verdict despite her lawyers' argument that she should not testify as she had moved out of New York and now resides in Florida. Ivanka’s lawyers stated that she left her Trump Organization job in 2017 to work for her father in the White House and never returned to the family business.

The celebrity’s attorneys had filed the motion to throw out a subpoena for her testimony in General Letitia James’ lawsuit against Donald Trump and the other parties involved.

Judge Arthur Engoron stressed that important documents showed that Ivanka is linked to some businesses belonging to her father in New York and has apartments in Manhattan. However, her testimony would be held on any date after November 1 to give her lawyers enough time to appeal the order.

The lawsuit reportedly accuses the former president of exaggerating his wealth for years on financial statements provided to banks, insurers, and other financial bodies to help him obtain loans and deals.

The suit is now seeking penalties running into $250 million and an eventual ban on Trump’s license to do business in New York. Engoron also threw out a request for Ivanka to give a deposition in Florida instead of appearing in New York to testify.

Ivanka held the post of a former executive at the Trump Organization and was earlier dismissed as a defendant from the case in June following an appeal court ruling that the claims against her were outside the statute of limitations.

However, the New York Attorney General in charge of the case issued subpoenas to a number of corporate companies linked to Ivanka in a bid to get her back in the witness box. Moskowitz quickly countered the move, arguing that Ivanka was improperly served, as he added:

"Each of these three subpoenas listed Ms. Trump’s name only in the ‘to’ line above the LLCs’ names and the names and addresses of their registered agents. The body of the Subpoenas requested a ‘personal appearance’ ‘to give testimony’ at trial but did not identify any specific employee, officer, or director that the NYAG wanted to appear."

The 41-year-old’s time at the Trump Organisation saw her successfully negotiate million-dollar deals for the Old Post Office hotel project, the Trump International Hotel & Tower in Chicago, and the Trump National Doral golf course in Miami.

As reported by The Blast, Eric Trump, Donald Trump Jr., and Donald Trump himself will testify in the case that was filed against the organization in November 2022.

The ongoing case has been filled with a series of dramas, including Trump dashing out of the courtroom during the hearing on Wednesday, October 25.

Right before the dramatic incident, Michael Cohen, Trump’s former lawyer, and latest nemesis, was quizzed if Trump or Allen Weisselberg instructed him to give bogus numbers, to which Cohen replied that he does not “recall.”

Cliff Robert, an attorney on Trump’s team, then asked for a directed verdict, arguing that the main witnesses testified that Trump did not leave such instructions. Robert’s request was denied by the judge, which infuriated Trump, and led him to exit the court premises, causing the Secret Service to run after him.

Outside the court, Trump told the interviewers that the witness admitted his team won the trial and that the judge should end the trial. He further accused the judge of being “partisan with a person who’s very partisan sitting alongside him, perhaps even much more partisan than he is.” 

As he settled back into the courtroom, Trump was asked about the statement he made to the press on the judge being "partisan." The 77-year-old clarified that he was referring to Cohen and not Engoron’s law clerk, whom Trump had also criticized earlier and even fined.

 Per The Blast, Trump’s explanation did not convince Judge Engoron, so he fined him $10,000 to be paid within 30 days for violating a gag order.