Ivanka Trump takes the stand in her father’s $250 million civil fraud trial

A little louder: Judge asks soft-spoken Ivanka Trump to speak up

In less than 10 minutes on the witness stand, the judge twice asked the soft-spoken Ivanka Trump to speak a little louder and also asked her to move closer to the microphone.

Trump seems comfortable and cooperative on the stand as she recounts her work history.

Trump family dynamics on display today

Adam Reiss

The Trump family dynamics will be on display here today as Ivanka Trump appears completely separate from the family. She is the first member not to sit at the defense table before taking the stand and it will be on everyone’s minds how much she tries to distance herself from her family and the family business.

The siblings split their defense strategy in early March when Ivanka Trump, who had been using the same attorneys as her brothers, decided to hire her own personal attorney, Bennett Moskowitz. Moskowitz is her sole attorney and previously represented the estate of Jeffrey Epstein. 

Ivanka Trump takes the stand

Ivanka Trump is now on the stand to begin her testimony.

The 25th and last witness for the state, the former White House aide entered the courtroom smiling and confident wearing a black pantsuit and white shirt.

Ivanka Trump’s apartment likely to come up during today’s proceedings

Adam Reiss

Photographers captured Ivanka Trump coming out of her apartment at 502 Park Ave., the same building where Michael Cohen also lives. It is likely that the apartment will be brought up today to discuss her option to purchase it for $8 million when the company was valuing it for $25 million. 

Trump posts ahead of his daughter’s testimony

Ahead of his daughter’s testimony in Manhattan, Trump posted on Truth Social, attacking James as a fraud and referring to Engoron as a “Trump Hating, out of control Clubhouse appointed Judge.”

“It is Letitia James and the Judge who are Fraudulent for setting such LOW VALUATIONS in order to undermine and discredit my Financial Statements, thereby making me look bad — Election Interference,” he wrote. “Now they are trying to bring Ivanka into the case, despite the Court of Appeals ruling that she cannot be charged. Sad!”

Highlights from Trump’s testimony

The former president testified Monday and quickly went off the rails in his answers, using his time on the stand to lash out at Engoron and James’ office for what he said was their “unfair” treatment.

• Trump fumed about Kevin Wallace, the lawyer from James’ office who was questioning him: “You and every other Democrat … coming after me from 15 different sides … all haters.”
• Trump repeatedly blasted James from the stand, calling her a “political hack” and her office “haters.”
• Trump sparred with Engoron from the stand after the judge scolded him for going off on tangents while answering questions. Trump said the judge would “rule against me because he will always rule against me.” Engoron replied that Trump’s statement wasn’t true and again asked him to answer the question: “You can attack me all you want, but just answer the question,” the judge said.
• After Trump continued going off topic, Engoron urged his lawyers to “control him,” saying the trial was “not a political rally.” At one point, after once again telling Trump’s lawyers to rein in his answers and getting pushback, the judge raised his voice and told Trump attorney Alina Habba, “I am not here to hear what he has to say, now sit down!”
• Trump repeatedly downplayed the importance of his annual statements of financial condition and claimed he barely paid attention to them before suggesting that the statements were too conservative: “My net worth is financially more than what were on the financial statements. Therefore you have no case,” he said.
• Trump said he relied on information from his accountants for his financial statements and “was not involved in any way,” despite other witnesses, including former Trump lawyer Michael Cohen and Trump’s accountant Donald Bender, having testified otherwise.

Details from Ivanka Trump’s deposition

In her deposition in August last year, Ivanka Trump said she didn’t recall an email she wrote that said: “My father will send you his most recent financial statement.”

Similar to her brother Eric Trump, Ivanka Trump said in her deposition: “I mean, we have a huge business and we have assets and each one of them has tons of both projections and statements.”

Asked whether she had any recollection of her father having personal financial statements, she replied: “Not especially.”

Asked about generally having a recollection of her father’s personal financial statements, she said: “I combine them all in my mind, like statements of the company and — so I — no, I mean not like specific to him.”

Ivanka Trump also said she had “never prepared” a statement of financial condition. “I’ve never prepared one, I’ve never made one. I’m not an accountant,” she said.

What comes next after Ivanka Trump’s testimony?

Adam Reiss

We expect the direct exam to last most of the day and we may begin the cross which will go into tomorrow. On Monday, the defense will begin to present its case, which defense attorney Chris Kise says will last until Dec. 15.

Court much more relaxed than during Trump’s testimony

Adam Reiss

The mood in the courtroom is much more relaxed today than it was Monday when the former president testified and the tension was high. The room is filling up but there are still a fair amount of seats available.

Prosecutors are here and James is in her seat in the front row. Prosecutor Louis Solomon will conduct the questioning of Ivanka Trump.

James says she expects Ivanka Trump to ‘distance herself’ from Trump Organization in her testimony

In brief remarks to reporters before entering the courthouse, James said she expects Ivanka Trump to attempt to “distance herself” from the Trump Organization in her testimony, “but unfortunately the facts will reveal that, in fact, she was very much involved.” 

“We uncovered the scheme and she benefited from it personally,” she said. “And Ms. Trump will do all that she can to try to separate herself from this corporation, but she’s inextricably tied to the Trump Organization and to these properties, that she helped secure financing for.”

“So you cannot hide from the truth and the facts will belie the truth and the evidence,” James added. “And so we look forward to her testimony.”

What to watch for in Ivanka Trump’s testimony

Although no longer a defendant, Ivanka Trump was an executive in the Trump Organization before she left the company to serve as a senior White House aide along with her husband, Jared Kushner. 

Here’s what to expect her to be asked about during her testimony today:

• The acquisition of loans during her time as a Trump Organization executive vice president.
• The role she and Deutsche Bank played in helping the family business secure a loan and lease for a luxury hotel in Washington, D.C., among other things.
• Other loans she was able to obtain for the Trump Organization, transactions that took place when she served as an executive, and the documentation that was used to attain low interest rates.

Highlights from the testimony of Trump’s sons

Both Eric Trump and Donald Trump Jr. denied involvement in financial statements that James alleges had inflated assets of the Trump Organization during their testimony last week:

• Eric Trump denied involvement in the disputed financial statements submitted to banks and lenders despite emails and signatures on letters indicating his involvement that declare annual financial statements free of misstatements and fraud, which were also signed by his older brother, Trump Jr.
• Eric Trump pushed back on questions about his involvement in his father’s financial statements, saying he ran day-to-day operations of the family business while his father was in office, and repeatedly said: “I pour concrete. I operate properties. I don’t focus on appraisals.”
• Trump Jr. testified that he did not “have anything to do” with the company’s statements of financial condition, saying he “relied heavily” on accountants, such as the Trump Organization’s former accountant Donald Bender, to compile the financial statements. Bender earlier in the trial had blamed inflated numbers in the financial statements he compiled on the information he received from the Trumps.

Ivanka Trump has arrived at the courthouse to protests

Ivanka Trump has arrived at the courthouse to give testimony today.

She did not speak to reporters on her way in. Some people nearby briefly chanted “crime family” but quickly dispersed after her arrival. There were no other protesters present during her arrival.

Ivanka Trump’s testimony comes after court fight

Ivanka Trump’s path to testifying today was a winding one.

Lawyers for the former Trump Organization executive and White House adviser had challenged her subpoena, arguing she should be spared from testifying because an appeals court ruled earlier this year that she be removed as a defendant in the case over statute-of-limitations issues.

The attorney general’s office was trying “to continue to harass and burden President Trump’s daughter long after” the appeals court “mandated she be dismissed from the case,” her lawyers argued.

The attorney general’s office countered that she still has information important to the case.

“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. 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 attorney general contended in a court filing.

Those connections included profits from the Trump Organization’s former Washington, D.C. hotel, the office said.

“Ms. Trump remains under the control of the Trump Organization, including through her ongoing and substantial business ties to the organization,” the AG argued, adding that 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 (hotel) 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 is only when she is tasked with answering for that involvement that she disclaims any connection.”

Engoron ruled late last month that Ivanka Trump should take the stand.