On Wednesday, Ivanka Trump took her turn on the stand, testifying in the New York state civil fraud trial against her father, two brothers and the Trump Organization.
CNN collected a “highlights” list from her testimony, and on most occasions, the media outlet reported that she just replied “I don’t remember” to much of the questioning.
While Ivanka Trump was originally listed as a co-defendant in the case, she was removed from the case after a state court found that the statute of limitations for the accusations against her had expired. Essentially, the court ruled that it had been so long since those events occurred for Ivanka that it would be reasonable that she might not remember what had actually happened.
This is especially relevant for her, since she wasn’t as directly involved in the business as her brothers Eric or Donald Jr. were, or her father, former President Donald Trump, was – for as long as they were.
During her testimony, Ivanka Trump was questioned about if she had forwarded any statements about the financial position her father had to Beal Bank after officials at the bank had requested them, or whether she simply “offered” those records to the financial institution.
She replied that she wasn’t able to recall which it was.
The prosecution in the case is being led by Democratic Attorney General Letitia James, who has publicly said she would target Trump from as far back as her election campaign for the position.
Her case accuses Trump, his sons and their business of committing fraud by inflating their net worth to gain favorable loans, while also deflating their net worth at other times to reduce the amount of taxes they had to pay.
James has specifically mentioned a loan from Deutsche Bank that they secured to purchase and then develop the Doral Golf Resort and Spa, located in Florida, as well as some other properties.
CNN reported that one witness testified that Trump saved about $168 million by obtaining preferred terms through Deutsche Bank, presumably by gaining a lower interest rate.
CNN further reported that, during her testimony, Ivanka Trump said she recalled some aspects of the statements she made to James’ office a year-and-a-half ago. She was asked if the $20.8 million purchase offer on a penthouse apartment on Trump Park Avenue was figured into the statement of net worth for her father.
She replied to the question from lawyer Louis Solomon:
“As I told you a year-and-a-half ago, I wasn’t involved in this statement of financial condition, so I can’t say what it took into account or didn’t take into account.”
Solomon showed an email in court where Ivanka suggested her father’s total net worth would have to be lowered to a certain level to qualify for a loan with Deutsche Bank. The bank said the requirement was originally $3 billion, while Ivanka suggested $2 billion. Eventually, the two parties agreed on $2.5 billion.
