2:05 pm ET, November 8, 2023
Highlights from Ivanka Trump’s testimony so far
From CNN’s Lauren del Valle, Kara Scannell and Jeremy Herb
Ivanka Trump spent roughly two hours on the witness stand Wednesday in her father’s civil fraud trial, answering questions about her role at the Trump Organization and an apartment she leased in one of her father’s buildings.
The former president’s daughter is no longer a defendant in the case, but she is the final witness the New York attorney general’s office plans to call in its case against Trump, his sons and his business.
The trial is currently in a lunch break.
Here are highlights from her testimony so far:
Questions about financing loans through Deutsche Bank: She was questioned at length about the financing of loans for the Doral Golf Resort & Spa in Florida through Deutsche Bank.
The loans are a key part of the case because they required Trump to submit annual financial statements – and the attorney general alleges those statements were falsified to inflate Trump’s net worth and obtain better loan rates.
In this court sketch, Louis Solomon, a lawyer for the attorney general’s office, questions Ivanka Trump on the witness stand during Wednesday’s proceedings.
Jane Rosenberg/Reuters
AG attorney Louis Solomon showed email communications Ivanka Trump had in shopping around potential financing terms from several lenders to fund Trump Org. for the Doral property. Donald Trump’s financial statements were shared with some of the potential lenders.
Louis Solomon, a lawyer for the attorney general’s office, showed emails during questioning where Ivanka Trump proposed lowering the required net worth for her father under the loan agreement with Deutsche Bank.
The final agreement for the Deutsche Bank loan required Donald Trump, as the guarantor, to maintain a minimum net worth of $2.5 billion.
One earlier draft of the loan terms proposed by the bank required Trump maintain a $3 billion net worth. Ivanka Trump proposed a change to lower the net worth requirement to $2 billion, in an email Solomon showed in court.
Penthouse apartment: She distanced herself from any knowledge of a discrepancy in the value of a penthouse apartment she leased in Trump Park Avenue.
Ivanka Trump had a purchase option on the apartment for $8.5 million, but the value on Trump’s financial statement was $20.8 million, according to the attorney general’s civil complaint.
Solomon asked whether the value of her purchase option was factored into her father’s financial statement.
“As I had told you a year-and-a-half ago, I wasn’t involved in his statement of financial condition, so I can’t say what it took into account or didn’t take into account,” she responded.
Old Post Office project: She acknowledged the General Services Administration asked for “clarification on several matters” about Donald Trump’s financial statements submitted with a bid for the lease on the Old Post Office in Washington.
Ivanka Trump said she recalled going to Washington to make a presentation to GSA on Trump Org. proposal for the building.
She and her father both spoke at the presentation meeting with GSA officials, she said.
“Do you recall that meeting discussing Donald J. Trump financial statements in any way shape or form?” Solomon asked.
“No I don’t recall that,” she said.
Ivanka Trump said she recalled the December 2011 meeting was a big-picture presentation “bringing the project to life.”
“Not financial statements or anything granular like that,” she said
2023-11-08 19:29:00
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