A New York appeals court ruled on Thursday that the Trump sister must testify in the family’s $250 million bank fraud trial, rejecting Ivanka’s pathetic attempt to waylay her testimony via an appeal.
She is scheduled to take the stand on November 8.
Ivanka Trump was originally cast as a defendant in the case alongside and sons Eric and Donald Jr, but narrowly avoided inclusion earlier this year when an appeals court ruled her actions were outside the statute of limitations. The trio stands accused of deceiving banks and insurers by massively overvaluing the elder Trump’s net worth.
Ivanka was ordered to testify in the trial last week—but then appealed the decision on the grounds that she would face “undue hardship” if she had to find childcare in order to testify during the school week. It looks like the judge thinks finding a babysitter isn’t all that hard.
So far, Don Jr. has wrapped his testimony, while Eric’s will continue through Friday.
Mary Trump, the former president’s estranged niece, doesn’t see the children’s testimony helping their father.
“They’re going to have to walk a very thin line between obfuscating in a way that’s not perjury and appeasing their father’s ego so that he doesn’t throw them under the bus when he testifies, which of course he’s going to do no matter what they do,” Mary Trump said in a newsletter exclusive, referring to the two sons.
That might change when Ivanka hits the stand.
Ivanka is likely to be less coy about her father’s business dealings, according to Mary, who believes that the heiress will “tell the truth and throw him under the bus,” since she’s “legitimately wealthy” without her father and doesn’t need to rely on him.
So far, Judge Arthur Engoron has ruled that Trump and his sons committed fraud and has stripped the Trump Organization of its business certificates. Trump is fighting hard to appeal that decision.
