Trump Will Struggle to 'Distance Himself' From His Children: Ex-Prosecutor

It will be really difficult for Donald Trump to distance himself from his three adult children who are due to testify in the $250 million civil fraud case he is facing in New York, according to a prominent legal expert.

On Friday, Judge Arthur Engoron, who is overseeing the case, ruled that Ivanka Trump must testify before the court, despite being dismissed earlier this year as a defendant due to a statute of limitations. Ivanka had sought to avoid testifying, but Engoron ruled that she maintains close ties to the Trump family business and so is required to appear. In Friday's ruling, he said: "Ms. Trump has clearly availed herself of the privilege of doing business in New York."

Trump, his adult sons Donald Jr. and Eric, and the Trump Organization are accused by New York Attorney Letitia James of inflating the value of their properties to secure more favorable bank loans and tax bills, which they strongly deny. Trump, whom polling indicates is firm frontrunner for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination, has dismissed the claims against him as "another witch hunt." Newsweek has contacted Donald Trump for comment via the press contact form on his official website.

In September, Engoron found Trump and his adult sons civilly liable for fraud and revoked the Trump Organization's New York business licence. The case is civil rather than criminal, meaning there is no possibility of Trump facing any jail time.

Former federal prosecutor Barbara McQuade discussed the case on MSNBC on Friday. Referring to Trump, she said: "I mean it's really difficult, I think, in this case, for him to distance himself from his children."

McQuade added that Ivanka could testify to her father's good character, but said the prosecutor could seek to undermine this by suggesting she wasn't fully aware of his business activities.

McQuade said: "I imagine it'll be sort of the way I've seen this happen in courtrooms where, you know, the bank-robber defendant, his lawyer calls his mother to testify and talk about what a good boy he his, or their pastor to talk about how good he is. And the technique then on cross-examination is not to beat up the mother or pastor, but instead to suggest they don't know some of these things, right?"

In an imitation of the prosecutor, McQuade added: "'Ivanka Trump, you were a White House senior adviser, so you were busy with your own job, so you couldn't possibly know all the things going on here.' I imagine the cross-examination will be something like that, to put some distance between them.

"I think it's going to be much more difficult with Eric Trump and Donald Trump Jr., who, of course, had major roles with these organizations," McQuade said.

On Friday, Kevin Wallace, from Attorney General James' office, said they planned to call Donald Jr. to testify on Wednesday, followed by Eric on Thursday and Ivanka on Friday, giving her the chance to appeal Engoron's ruling. They will be followed by Trump himself, who, Wallace said, would be the prosecution's final witness.

Trump did attempt to get the case against him dismissed, storming out of the courtroom on Wednesday when this bid was rejected by Engoron.

Danya Perry, the attorney of former Trump lawyer turned arch critic Michael Cohen, described the scene: "[Engoron] swiftly denied the motion. Trump pounded the table and he just stormed out and his team and all the secret service were required to scramble and chase after him. He was red in the face. He was furious."

Separately, Trump is facing four criminal trials over claims he orchestrated the payment of hush money to a pornographic actress; mishandled classified documents; and attempted to overturn the 2020 presidential election result, both across the United States and in the state of Georgia specifically. He has pled not guilty to all counts and has consistently said that the cases against him are politically motivated.