Politics - News Analysis

Ivanka Trump’s Credit Card Bills Are Being Used Against Her in Daddy’s NY Fraud Case

New York Attorney General Letitia James is zeroing in on Ivanka Trump once again, specifically her credit card bills as part of a new court filing she presented on Thursday afternoon.

James has been diligent in her research and is suing Donald Trump for $250 million, asserting he has inflated his net worth by billions of dollars to gain such benefits as more favorable bank loans and reduced tax bills between 2011 and 2021. Trump, of course, continues to maintain he’s pure as the driven snow and is accusing prosecutors of persecuting him for their own political gain, Newsweek reports. This is a civil lawsuit, not a criminal one, so Trump won’t do jail time over this one. He’s pleading not guilty in this case as well as the three other indictments he’s facing.

In September, Judge Arthur Engoron ruled that Trump and his eldest sons, their businesses and executives committed fraud, and Engoron’s agenda is still busy because he will also be deciding on six other accusations that include falsifying business records, insurance fraud, and conspiracy claims connected to the trial.

James has doggedly attempted to compel Ivanka to testify during the trial, but Trump’s eldest daughter keeps finding ways to dodge that bullet. Last week her lawyers filed a motion requesting that James’s office quash a subpoena that forces her to testify. The attorneys argued that she shouldn’t be required to do so since she was dropped from the case earlier this year because the statute of limitations had run out.

But James isn’t one to be easily discouraged and on Thursday she filed a motion arguing that Ivanka Trump should still be required to testify in the trial, even if she is a former defendant in the civil suit.

“Ms. Trump remains under the control of the Trump Organization, including through her ongoing and substantial business ties to the organization. Ms. Trump reappointed herself to a participating member of several Trump Organization entities following her departure from government,” James wrote.

James alleges that Ivanka Trump only “disclaims any connection” whenever she is asked to answer for her involvement with the Trump Organization and adds that her efforts to separate herself from her father’s business carry “no legal weight.”

“She does not seem to be averse to her involvement in the family business when it comes to owning and collecting proceeds from the OPO sale, the Trump Organization purchasing insurance for her and her companies, managing her household staff and credit card bills, renting her apartment or even paying her legal fees in this action.”

It seems like Ivanka’s attorneys have tried every trick in the book to help their client avoid testifying, even saying she wasn’t properly served a subpoena. James has, of course, disputed this as well.

“As an initial matter, Ms. Trump tries to draw a distinction between whether the subpoena had been served on her individually or as an officer of the entities addressed beneath her name in the subpoena. All roads here lead to Rome; regardless of how the subpoenas are parsed sufficient service was effected to compel Ms. Trump’s testimony, whether individually or as an officer or agent of the corporate entities,” James wrote.

This leaves me wondering why Trump’s eldest daughter is trying to avoid testifying. Perhaps she’s trying to stay in Daddy Dearest’s good graces. Since the statute of limitations on the civil trial has run out and she’s no longer a defendant, you’d think she doesn’t have much to worry about.

Or does she?

After all, during the trial, there was scrutiny over the price of Ivanka’s penthouse thanks to Donald Bender, a partner at Mazars USA and a longtime accountant for her dad’s businesses, who told the court that the valuation given for her Manhattan-based Trump Park Avenue penthouse was different than the price offered to her to buy it outright.

James’s lawsuit alleges the Trump Organization valued the penthouse at $20.8 million. Ivanka, however, was offered an option price of $8.5 million to purchase the apartment.

So yeah, there’s a pretty big difference. Will anything come from that? Who knows? But the fact is Ivanka is avoiding testifying in any way that she can, so it suggests something is up.

meet the author

Megan has lived in California, Nevada, Arizona, Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Florida and she currently lives in Central America. Living in these places has informed her writing on politics, science, and history. She is currently owned by 15 cats and 3 dogs and regularly owns Trump supporters when she has the opportunity. She can be found on Twitter at https://twitter.com/GaiaLibra and Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/politicalsaurus

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