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Ivanka Trump is testifying Wednesday about major property deals she made in Florida, New York, Chicago and Washington, D.C., the final witness in the fraud case brought by New York Attorney General against former President Donald Trump and the Trump Organization.
Ivanka Trump, who left the Trump Organization to join her father in the White House in 2017, originally was a defendant in the case but was dropped because the dates of her involvement were outside the statute of limitations.
James' 220-page legal complaint against the Trump Organization, filed in court in September 2023, questioned the validity of major transactions that Ivanka Trump handled. They included securing loans in 2012 for the Trump National Doral Golf Course in Miami and the Trump International Hotel & Tower in Chicago.
Letitia James' complaint states that the loans were granted in part because of Donald Trump's fraudulently inflated financial statements.
"On each of those transactions with Deutsche Bank, Ms. Trump was aware that the transactions included a personal guarantee from Mr. Trump that required him to provide annual Statements of Financial Condition and certifications," the complaint states.
Ivanka Trump was also involved in the purchase of the Old Post Office in Washington, D.C., which Trump converted to the Trump International Hotel before selling it to the Hilton Group last year to create the Waldorf Astoria D.C.
On its website, the Trump Organization says: "In 2012, The Trump Organization was selected by the General Services Administration [GSA] to redevelop the Nation's Old Post Office in one of the most competitive selection processes in the history of the agency."
James' office places Ivanka Trump at the center of the purchase and says she used inflated asset evaluation to secure a loan.
"Mr. Trump and Ivanka Trump participated personally in the bidding process in 2011," James' office wrote. "In particular, Ivanka Trump was involved in crafting communications to the GSA in connection with the bid and in responding to deficiency comments raised by the GSA."
Based on James' complaint, Ivanka Trump will likely face questions about a penthouse apartment she leased in Trump Park Avenue in New York.
According to the complaint, her rental agreement included an option to purchase the unit for $8.5 million. However, Donald Trump's 2011 and 2012 financial statements list it as being worth $20.8 million and it was valued at $25 million in 2013.
The complaint also states that Ivanka Trump was offered another penthouse in the same building for $14.3 million, even though that penthouse was listed as being worth $45 million in Donald Trump's 2014 statement of financial condition.
In his testimony on Monday, Donald Trump acknowledged that some properties may have been overvalued in 2014 to allow for rapid increases in their value. "If you carry that [2014 evaluations] forward to 2021, all of those valuations were low," he insisted.
Based on her deposition last year, Ivanka Trump will likely try to distance herself from any fraud. She said she had no specific recollection that her father had offered personal statements of financial condition to secure loans.
"I don't know how they did that and who prepared that and the mechanisms like that," she said.
Donald Trump, his two eldest sons, Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump, as well as The Trump Organization are co-defendants in the civil case brought by James, who is accusing the former president of inflating his net worth by billions of dollars to obtain benefits such as better bank loans and reduced tax bills.
Last month, Engoron ruled that Donald Trump, Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump committed fraud in their property evaluations. The court will decide on six other accusations, including falsifying business records, insurance fraud and conspiracy claims.
Trump is the front-runner for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination.
Newsweek reached out to attorneys representing Ivanka Trump and Donald Trump by email on Wednesday for comment.
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About the writer
Sean O'Driscoll is a Newsweek Senior Crime and Courts Reporter based in Ireland. His focus is reporting on U.S. law. ... Read more