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Ivanka Trump's penthouse came up again Tuesday when her father, former president Donald Trump, was back in court for his civil fraud trial.
The $250 million trial stems from New York Attorney General Letitia James alleging Trump and top executives at his company, the Trump Organization, conspired to inflate his net worth on financial statements provided to banks, insurers and others to make deals and secure loans.
Judge Arthur Engoron has already resolved the lawsuit's top claim, ruling that Trump committed years of fraud by inflating the value of assets in his financial statements. The trial concerns the lawsuit's remaining claims of conspiracy, insurance fraud and falsifying business records. Trump, who is leading the race in the polls for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination, has denied wrongdoing.
Trump was in court on Tuesday as Trump company accountant Donna Kidder testified that she was told to make some assumptions favorable to the company on internal financial spreadsheets, the Associated Press reported.
Kidder also testified about the value of a penthouse in Trump Park Avenue that Trump's eldest daughter, Ivanka Trump, and her husband, Jared Kushner, rented in 2011.
She said Ivanka Trump had been given an option to buy the unit for $8.5 million.
Kidder examined "an email from 2014, when Ivanka Trump surrendered an option to buy one of the penthouses and was given an option to buy another for $14,264,000," Adam Klasfeld, a reporter with The Messenger, wrote in a post on X, formerly Twitter.
Questioning turns to Ivanka Trump's penthouse in Trump Park Avenue.
— Adam Klasfeld (@KlasfeldReports) October 17, 2023
Kidder examines an email from 2014, when Ivanka Trump surrendered an option to buy one of the penthouses and was given an option to buy another for $14,264,000.
Pictured: NYAG's summary of allegations. pic.twitter.com/zGOJXJlO8r
The Trump Organization valued both penthouses much higher than the price offered to Ivanka Trump on statements of financial condition, James alleged in the lawsuit. The unit she rented was valued at $20.8 million in 2011 and 2012 statements of financial condition, and $25 million in 2013.
James' lawsuit also alleged that in June 2014, Ivanka Trump was given an option to purchase a bigger penthouse in the same building for $14.26 million—but the same unit was valued at $45 million in a 2014 statement of financial condition.
Ivanka Trump was initially named as a defendant in James' lawsuit, but an appeals court dropped her in June after finding that claims against her were outside the statute of limitations.
Trump on Tuesday lashed out at James, calling the case a witch hunt and arguing that his children should not be involved.
"We worked hard, my family," he said. "My children are involved in this and they shouldn't. They don't deserve to be involved in this. This is a witch hunt by a radical lunatic attorney general."
After his decision on the lawsuit's top claim, Engoron issued a ruling that revoked Trump's business licenses and put a court-appointed receiver in charge of his companies, which legal experts called a corporate death penalty.
An appeals court later rejected Trump's bid to pause the trial but agreed to leave him in control of his business holdings for now.
Trump is also facing 91 felony counts in four criminal cases in Washington, D.C, New York, Florida and Georgia. He has denied wrongdoing in all of the cases.
Newsweek has reached out to Trump's attorney and the New York Attorney General's Office via email for comment.
About the writer
Khaleda Rahman is Newsweek's National Correspondent based in London, UK. Her focus is reporting on education and national news. Khaleda ... Read more