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Wednesday October 23, 2024

Ivanka Trump ordered by New York court to testify in Donald Trump's fraud trial

Ivanka Trump served as a senior adviser to her father, Donald Trump the frontrunner for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination

By Web Desk
October 27, 2023
This photo taken on January 11, 2017 shows US President-elect Donald Trump whispers to his daughter Ivanka during a press conference at Trump Tower in New York. — AFP
This photo taken on January 11, 2017 shows US President-elect Donald Trump whispers to his daughter Ivanka during a press conference at Trump Tower in New York. — AFP

Ivanka Trump, the daughter of former US President Donald Trump was ordered to testify in her father's civil fraud trial on Friday by the New York court presiding over the case.

Ivanka was initially named in the lawsuit against Trump and his two eldest sons brought by New York's attorney general but was eventually dropped as a defendant.

Trump and his sons Don Jr and Eric are accused of inflating the value of the real estate of the Trump Organisation for years to obtain more favorable bank loans and insurance terms.

Judge Arthur Engoron dismissed an attempt by Trump's attorneys to quash a subpoena issued to Ivanka Trump by Attorney General Letitia James but gave her until November 1 to appeal the decision.

Ivanka Trump served as a senior adviser to her father, the frontrunner for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination, while he was in the White House but has kept a low profile since he left office.

She abandoned her roles in the Trump Organisation in January 2017, when her father became president and she and her husband, Jared Kushner, both took up posts in his administration.

Prior to that, Ivanka Trump was an executive vice president of the Trump Organisation and was notably in close contact with one of the group's biggest lenders, Deutsche Bank, according to the attorney general's office.

The 77-year-old Trump and his sons are also expected to testify at some point during the trial being held in Manhattan.

The former president does not risk going to jail, but James is seeking $250 million in penalties and the removal of Trump and his sons from management of the family real estate empire.

Trump has repeatedly denounced the trial as a Democratic witch hunt intended to derail his 2024 White House bid.