Ivanka Trump, daughter of former president Donald Trump, is backing away from the $250 million fraud suit filed against the Trump organization, in which she and her two brothers, Donald Trump, Jr. and Eric Trump, are named as defendants.
On Monday, Ivanka Trump’s attorney Reid Figel wrote to the New York Supreme Court to request that his client be treated differently than her father, brothers, and the Trump Organization because she left the family business in 2017.
Attorney Figel stated that there was no allegation that Ivanka created, reviewed, prepared, or certified her father’s financial statements, when discussing the lawsuit filed by New York Attorney General Letitia James in September of last year.
The letter specifically mentioned how Ivanka’s legal and factual arguments are different from those of the other family members named.
According to the allegations made in the civil fraud suit, the Trump Organization inflated its property values in order to persuade banks to lend the business more money. The suit names Donald Trump and his three children as defendants. Damages of $250 million are sought, and the four defendants are also being sued for disqualification from serving as officers or directors of any company in the State of New York.
The trial before Judge Arthur Engoron is still set to begin on October 2.
A number of experts have pointed out that Ivanka’s claim that she was not involved in the preparation, review, or certification of any fraudulent financial records could be interpreted to mean that her father and brothers were.
During her lawsuit announcement, Attorney General James implied that Trump’s children were complicit in their father’s fraud and that they had repeatedly filed false tax returns.
Donald Trump has denied the allegations and accused AG James of going on a “witch hunt” against him, but James has stood by her accusations.
Ivanka Trump has taken a different route than her brothers have since the announcement of the lawsuit in September. She has refrained from social media shaming of the Attorney General and other public statements about the case. People assume that by remaining silent, she is trying to put more distance between herself and her father.
Shortly after Trump declared his candidacy for president in 2024, Ivanka announced her departure from politics.