A new report from the financial news publication Forbes accuses Ivanka Trump — daughter to the former president and a former member of his presidential team — of involvement in deception propagated by Donald’s inner circles about the nature (and value) of various assets in the Trumps’ wide-ranging portfolio.
That precise sort of problem is what underlies the entire, currently proceeding fraud case from New York state Attorney General Letitia James. Ivanka herself was originally named in the case, but a New York court removed her on statute of limitations concerns. She is still slated to testify, however, having lost at the end of last week in an attempt to get out of doing so. Her team unsuccessfully argued, among other factors, that her newfangled residence outside of New York put her outside the court’s actionable reach. While she may not face direct consequence in penalty terms for the alleged involvement in deception outlined by Forbes, it’s perfectly feasible for the publication’s details to come up as she’s on the stand.
And that could pave the way for other revelations, like any admissions from Ivanka regarding the nature of value claims being formulated within the ex-president’s circles.
Among the specific details offered by Forbes is that, during a 2015 meeting with publication journalists, Ivanka allegedly vastly overstated (compared to the Trumps’ own materials) the usable meeting space at a property called Trump Doral. She also glossed over massive debt associated with the property. “We have, like, no debt on it,” she said (presumably there’s a recording?). And she also conferred on deception regarding the mortgage rate associated with the property, understating the level. (That point was after the older Trump acknowledged the indications of the mortgage at all!)
There are other certainly attention-grabbing examples of these behavioral trends by the Trumps, like the insistence within the former president’s circle on overstating the size of his personal residence at Trump Tower in Manhattan. And details emerging so far have pointed towards involvement in formulating potentially seriously off-base valuations by others too, like Eric Trump. Read more from Forbes here.
