Ivanka Trump ordered to testify in Donald Trump’s New York fraud trial
- Justice Arthur Engoron denied the ex-US president’s daughter’s request to strike down a subpoena for her testimony about various financial transactions
- Ivanka Trump’s lawyers had argued that the subpoena was a form of ‘harassment’, after their client won dismissal from the suit
A New York judge ordered Donald Trump’s daughter Ivanka Trump to testify at the ongoing trial of the state’s US$250 million civil fraud lawsuit against the former president and his sprawling real estate company.
Justice Arthur Engoron on Friday denied Ivanka Trump’s request to strike down a subpoena for her testimony about various financial transactions she was involved with or had knowledge of. The decision by the Manhattan judge was a win for New York Attorney General Letitia James, who filed the suit last year.
The former president’s daughter was initially a defendant in the suit, but she won dismissal by an appeal court earlier this year.
Her lawyer argued the subpoena was a form of “harassment” to bypass her dismissal from the suit. Trump and his adult sons Donald Trump Jnr and Eric Trump, who are defendants in the suit, are all expected to testify later in the trial, now in its fourth week.
Donald Trump, the Republican front runner in the 2024 campaign for president, is accused of inflating his assets by billions of dollars in financial documents provided to banks and insurers.
The New York trial is one of six he is facing as he seeks to return to the White House next year. Trump denies wrongdoing and says the case is part of a “witch hunt” by Democrats.