By Michael R. Sisak | Associated Press
NEW YORK — Ivanka Trump’s testimony at her father’s New York civil fraud trial is being delayed until next week so there is sufficient time for her to be questioned, a judge said Monday.
Former President Donald Trump’s eldest daughter had been set to take the witness stand on Friday, when the Manhattan trial typically meets for a half-day session, but lawyers in the case said her testimony is likely to take a full day, if not longer.
Judge Arthur Engoron, who last week rejected Ivanka Trump’s bid to avoid testifying, said she will now appear on Nov. 8. The judge had floated the idea of making Friday a full-day court session, but Donald Trump’s lawyers said they couldn’t do that because of other commitments.
“I think we’re all OK with Ivanka on Wednesday the 8th,” Engoron said in court after discussing the matter with state lawyers and Donald Trump’s defense team.
The scheduling change now puts Ivanka Trump on the witness stand at the end of a blockbuster stretch in a case that threatens to disrupt her family’s real estate empire.
She’ll be testifying hours before her father, the 2024 Republican front-runner, holds a campaign rally in Miami near the televised debate he’s skipping with rivals for the party’s presidential nomination.
New York Attorney General Letitia James sued Donald Trump, his company and top executives — including sons Eric and Donald Trump Jr. — last year, alleging they conspired to exaggerate his wealth on financial statements that were used to secure loans and make deals.
Ivanka Trump, a former executive at her father’s Trump Organization, was originally listed as a defendant in James’ lawsuit, but an appeals court dismissed her from the case in June, saying claims against her were too old.
Donald Trump and the other defendants have denied wrongdoing. Donald Trump has called the trial a politically motivated sham. The case could strip Trump of some of his corporate holdings and marquee properties such as Trump Tower. James and Engoron are Democrats.
Originally scheduled to precede her father on the witness stand, Ivanka Trump will now follow him as the final witness called by James’ lawyers. Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump are scheduled to testify on Wednesday and Thursday. Donald Trump is expected on the witness stand on Nov. 6.
Following Ivanka Trump’s testimony, the defense will start calling witnesses. Trump’s lawyers listed 127 names on a witness list submitted before the trial began Oct. 2. Some overlap state witnesses.
Ivanka Trump left her job as a Trump Organization executive vice president in January 2017, joining her father’s presidential administration as an unpaid adviser. After Donald Trump exited the White House in 2021, she moved to Florida.
Ivanka Trump fought a subpoena to testify at the civil fraud trial, arguing through a lawyer that the state failed to properly serve her and that she shouldn’t be forced to testify because she isn’t a party to the case and doesn’t live in New York. She could still appeal Engoron’s ruling that requires her to take the witness stand.
Ivanka Trump’s lawyer, Bennet Moskowitz, told Engoron at a hearing Friday that state lawyers “just don’t have jurisdiction over her.” One of Donald Trump’s lawyers, Christopher Kise, argued that state lawyers “just want another free-for-all on another of President Trump’s children.”
State lawyers countered that Ivanka Trump was a key participant in some events discussed in the case and remains financially and professionally intertwined with the family business and its leaders.
Engoron, ordering Ivanka Trump to testify, cited documents showing she continued to have ties to some businesses in New York and still owns Manhattan apartments. “Ms. Trump has clearly availed herself of the privilege of doing business in New York,” he said.
During her years at the Trump Organization, Ivanka Trump was involved in negotiating and securing financing for various properties, including a lease and loan for a Washington hotel and loans for a Doral, Florida, golf resort and a hotel and condo skyscraper in Chicago, according to court filings.
According to James’ office, Ivanka Trump retained a financial interest in Trump Organization operations even after leaving for the White House, including an interest in the now-sold Washington hotel.
In court papers that included emails and other documents, state lawyers said the Trump Organization and its staff also have bought insurance for Ivanka Trump and her businesses, managed her household staff and credit card bills, rented her apartment and paid her legal fees.
In 2021 federal disclosures, she reported $2.6 million in income from Trump entities, including revenue from a vehicle known as TTT Consulting LLC. A company bookkeeper testified that TTT was set up for her and her brothers to reap a share of fees from some licensing agreements.