Ivanka Trump may have just given something away about her New York civil fraud trial testimony
Ivanka Trump has now twice tried to delay her testimony in her family’s New York civil fraud trial. The first time she succeeded by a few days, because judges will give you a little leeway. The second time she failed, because no one has a magic “delay” wand. In the process she may have given something away.
Not only is there no such thing as getting out of testifying, there’s also no possible scenario where her testimony can go well for her entire family. The courts have already excluded her as a defendant in this case, so she has no liability within the scope of this case and therefore can’t just plead the fifth. If she lies on the stand, she goes down for perjury. If she says “I don’t recall” to every question, that’s obstruction. She can choose her family members who are on trial, or she can choose herself, but not both.
Legal expert Glenn Kirschner thinks that Ivanka’s multiple attempts at getting out of testifying are giving away that she’s choosing herself over her family. And that makes sense. If you’re about to give testimony that financially destroys three members of your family because you’re not willing to go down for them, you might be inclined to make a show of trying to stall that testimony too.
We’ll see what happens. But just as there were no antics that would have allowed Trump’s sons’ testimony to go well for them, there are no antics that will allow Trump’s daughter to magically get her family off the hook. The only possible way for the Trumps to help themselves and each other in this trial would be to give a compelling, believable alternate explanation for the company’s business practices, such that the judge says “Wow okay you didn’t commit fraud.” Any other outcome on the stand is a disaster for the Trump family.
