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Donald Trump has lashed out ahead of his eldest daughter Ivanka Trump's testimony in the civil fraud trial against the former president.
In a post on Truth Social, Trump described how his "wonderful and beautiful daughter" will be appearing in court on Wednesday to answer questions under oath as part of New York Attorney General Letitia James' $250 million lawsuit accusing the former president of filing fraudulent financial statements that inflated the value of a number of properties and assets for years.
Trump also attacked James and Judge Arthur Engoron, who is overseeing the civil trial, while once again suggesting that his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida is worth significantly more than the $18 million valuation given by appraisals based on its restricted use as a social club. The former president has frequently claimed the property is worth up to $1.5 billion as a residential property.
Ivanka Trump was originally named in James' lawsuit alongside her father, two brothers, Eric and Donald Trump Jr., and executives at family real estate company The Trump Organization, but was dismissed from the case in June due to the statute of limitations for most of the allegations against her. She was ordered to testify by Engoron after being subpoenaed by James' office, and failed in her appeal attempt to block her scheduled testimony. Her father and brothers have already taken the stand as part of the civil fraud trial and denied all wrongdoing in connection to James' suit.
"Tomorrow my wonderful and beautiful daughter, Ivanka, is going to the Lower Manhattan Courthouse, at the direction of Letitia Peekaboo James, the Corrupt and Racist New York State Attorney General, who has allowed Murder and Violent Crime in New York to flourish, and a Trump Hating, out of control Clubhouse appointed Judge, Arthur Engoron, who viciously ruled against me before the trial even started, wouldn't even consider a Jury, and said that Mar-a-Lago, in Palm Beach, Florida, is worth $18,000,000 when, in fact, it is worth 50 to 100 times that amount, Other properties likewise," Trump wrote.
"Based on this information, which is so ridiculous, he said that I was a Fraud, when in fact 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! Now they are trying to bring Ivanka into the case, despite the Court of Appeals ruling that she cannot be charged. Sad!"
James' office has been contacted for comment via email.
Ivanka Trump left The Trump Organization in 2017 to join her father's White House administration, and has largely distanced herself from Trump's orbit since he lost the 2020 election.
Like her brothers, Ivanka Trump is expected to be questioned about her father's financial statements which Engoron has already ruled were filed fraudulently after they overinflated the value of numerous properties, including Mar-a-Lago.
She is also alleged to have used the financial statements to obtain loans from Deutsche Bank in 2012 and 2013, which forms a major part of James' investigation.
In her $250 million lawsuit filed in September 2022, James' office said that Ivanka Trump was "familiar with the financial performance" of the alleged overvalued properties and that she and her two brothers each had "familiarity" with the financial statements due to their roles as executive vice presidents at the Trump Organization.
Ivanka Trump could also be asked to testify about the valuation for the penthouse apartment at Trump Park Avenue in Manhattan where she lived. The Trump Organization valued the apartment in financial statements at $20.8 million, more than two-and-a-half times the $8.5 million option price which was offered to Ivanka Trump to buy it.
Engoron has already ruled that Trump had committed fraud by misrepresenting the value of his properties for years. The civil trial is now considering six remaining allegations in James' lawsuit, as well as the size of the penalty.
Trump faces being banned from doing business in New York state, having his properties removed from his control or being forced to pay a fine totaling hundreds of millions of dollars.
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About the writer
Ewan Palmer is a Newsweek News Reporter based in London, U.K. His focus is reporting on US politics, and Florida ... Read more