Ivanka Trump, the eldest daughter of former president Donald Trump, has filed a motion asking a New York court for a delay in the trial of the $250m fraud lawsuit filed against her, her father, her brothers, and their family’s eponymous real estate company, arguing that “other individuals”, not her, were responsible for the fraudulent financial statements issued by the company.
In the request, Ms. Trump’s attorneys argue that the fraud complaint filed last year against her and her co-defendants by New York Attorney General Letitia James “does not contain a single allegation that Ms. Trump directly or indirectly created, prepared, reviewed, or certified any of her father’s financial statements”.
“Other individuals were responsible for those tasks,” her lawyers wrote.
New York State Supreme Court Justice Arthur Engoron, who is overseeing the lawsuit, has ruled that the 2 October trial will commence on time “come hell or high water,” but Ivanka Trump’s request for delay cites the “unique” circumstances of her role in the case and argues that she has not been accused of lying about her father’s finances despite her former role as a top executive at the Trump Organization.
Her lawyers also said they need more time to prepare a defense, pointing out that the case is “not simple” because she resigned from her role at the company in 2017 to take a position in her father’s administration.
“The current schedule makes the preparation of a defense impossible,” attorneys Alina Habba and Clifford Robert wrote in court documents. “Fundamental notions of fair play and due process mandate that Defendants are afforded every opportunity to prepare a meaningful defense, rather than to have an impossible schedule forced upon them”.
In response, attorneys with the Attorney General’s office have said in court filings that there would be “no unfair prejudice to Defendants under the existing schedule” and said the Trumps’ “claimed hardship is self-inflicted”.
“Defendants have had ample time and opportunity to familiarize themselves with the matter. Instead, they have waited until the eve of the fact discovery deadline to only just begin their process of conducting discovery to prepare for trial, and now seek more time,” the Attorney General’s office said.
