Ivanka Trump dumps lawyers defending her in $250m lawsuit
Ivanka Trump splits from Eric and Don Jr and dumps lawyers defending them in $250m family fraud lawsuit: Former first daughter hires Epstein estate attorney as she goes it alone against NY Attorney General
- Ivanka Trump fired the lawyers representing her in Letitia James’ fraud suit
- Ivanka, Eric and Don Jr. had hired Clifford Robert and Michael Farina, of Robert & Robert, to represent them but Ivanka also retained other lawyers
- James sued Trump and his three adult children in September alleging they falsely inflated property values to obtain cheaper loans
Former First Daughter Ivanka Trump has stopped engaging the lawyers defending her in a fraud suit against New York Attorney General Letitia James — splitting from the attorneys representing her brothers Eric and Don Jr. in the case.
James filed a suit against her father, the former President Donald Trump, alleging that he, his three eldest children, his real estate firm and its top executives falsely inflated property values to obtain cheaper loans.
She is seeking $250 million – and is asking a judge to ‘permanently’ bar Trump and his adult children from doing business in the state.
Trump and his children have denied the claims, and just one week after the suit was filed, Eric and Don Jr. submitted paperwork saying they had retained Clifford Robert and Michael Farina of Robert & Robert to represent them.
Ivanka Trump, 41, has fired the lawyers representing her in a fraud suit against New York Attorney General Letitia James
That was the firm Ivanka was using as well. But, newly filed court documents show, Ivanka has now split with Robert and Farina, Forbes reported. They have previously represented Jeffrey Epstein’s estate.
The attorneys had previously notified the court that they would represent Ivanka as well, serving as her local counsel and working with two Washington DC-based lawyers who Ivanka hired independently of her brothers, Reid Figel and Michael Kellogg, of Kellogg Hansen.
The former president’s daughter is now being represented by Bennet Moskowitz of the firm Troutman Pepper.
Ivanka held the title of executive vice president at the Trump Organization, and had a prominent role on ‘The Apprentice’ TV show. She father her father to Washington when he won the White House, serving as an unpaid senior advisor along with her husband, Jared Kushner.
James accused Trump of engaging in ‘numerous acts of fraud’ when she filed the civil suit last year following a three-year probe.
New York AG Letitia James has sued former President Donald Trump and his adult children for $250 million, claiming fraud
For a time Ivanka Trump shared attorneys with Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump, both Trump Organization executives, on the case
She accused Trump and his three adult children of pumping up property far beyond their actual valuations when seeking lending to expand his real estate empire.
‘Claiming you have money that you do not have does not amount to the “Art of the Deal. It’s the art of the steal,’ she said.
A signal in the apparent split of legal strategy occured when Ivanka asked Judge Arthur Engeron for a delay.
The letter sought to established that she did not have any role approving financial statements that James’ office have characterized as a bait and switch.
‘The complaint does not contain a single allegation that Ms. Trump directly or indirectly created, prepared, reviewed or certified any of her father’s financial statements. The complaint affirmatively alleges that other individuals were responsible for those tasks,’ according to the letter.
‘Similarly, as Ms. Trump argued in her motion to dismiss – and which the OAG did not contest – there is no allegation that Ms. Trump ever made a misrepresentation about any of her father’s statements of financial condition to anyone,’ the letter continues.
Her lawyers wrote that the complaint ‘lacks a single allegation that Ms. Trump participated in preparing those financial statements, knew about the valuation methodologies that were used to value those assets, or had any knowledge regarding the alleged inaccuracies in her father’s stated net worth.’
Nevertheless, at least one of James’ allegations relates to a property that Ivanka inhabited.
According to a James filing, Ivanka’s Park Avenue apartment was publicly said to be worth $25 million, but she retained an option to purchase it for $8 million.
Eric and Donald Trump Jr. each gave depositions when ordered to by a judge. In his own deposition, Eric Trump invoked his Fifth Amendment rights more than 500 times.
Former President Donald Trump has repeatedly called the case a ‘witch hunt’ against him.
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