Latest news and live updates on Trump’s civil fraud trial in New York as Ivanka Trump takes the stand. The former president appeared Monday, and his sons spoke last week.
Judge denies spousal privilege claim on Jared Kushner emails
Judge Engoron has denied a motion from Trump's attorneys to block Ivanka Trump from being asked about emails between her and her husband, Jared Kushner.
Trump lawyer Chris Kise had argued the emails were protected by spousal privilege, and that "the witness cannot be compelled to speak about communications with her spouse." The judge sided with the AG's office, which contended the emails were sent from work email addresses on work topics.
"It is not privileged," the judge said.
(Note: I'm going to be away for a bit, if someone else wants to pull updates for those that appreciate them. Otherwise, I'll resume updating when I return.)
EDIT: I'm just gonna assume anyone who wanted an update clicked through and got one by now. Today's testimony finished up a couple hours ago. No big bombshells. AG's office just doing work and Trump's lawyers bitching about it.
'You're starting to sound like your client,' judge tells Trump lawyer
Ivanka Trump came off the stand briefly while lawyers argued over the AG's line of questioning.
Trump lawyer Chris Kise said questions about Ivanka Trump's involvement in a deal to convert the Old Post Office in Washington, D.C. into a hotel were irrelevant because of statute of limitation issues, and noted the government agency involved in the talks was happy with it.
"They were thrilled with the renovation and it was a world class facility,” Kise said.
“You're starting to sound like your client,” Judge Engoron replied.
To my knowledge, there are no cameras in the courtroom. All filmed segments seem to come from breaks, or when people are entering or leaving. Other than that, there's only been some courtroom sketches over the previous part of the trial to my knowledge. (edit: I guess there were some photos allowed when Trump himself took the stand. Maybe because he's a named defendant, but none today.)
Ivanka Trump says she didn't know much about financial statements
Just before the break, Ivanka Trump testified she was not involved in her father's financial statements, which are at the heart of the AG's case.
"I would assume he would have personal financial statements for accountants but those were not statements I was privy to," she said.
Asked if she had "any role" in preparing them, she said, "Not that I'm aware of." "As I told you, I had no involvement in his statement of financial condition and don’t know about the valuations that were taken into account," she said.
She added that she is not involved with the business — or the statements — now. "As I sit here now I am not involved in his personal financial statements," she said.
Trump lawyer gripes about Ivanka Trump being 'dragged' to court
As Louis Solomon from the AG's office continued to ask Ivanka Trump about business transactions that are over a decade old, Trump lawyer Chris Kise questioned why she was testifying at all after being "dragged" to court.
An annoyed Solomon shot back that he was asking her about Trump Organizations deals she'd negotiated "from top to bottom."
The married mother had unsuccessfully fought the AG's subpoena for her to testify, arguing that she's no longer a Trump Organization employee and doesn't live in New York, and that her testimony was scheduled in the middle of a school week.
Ivanka Trump is becoming more evasive on the stand
Ivanka Trump appears to very poised, friendly and willing to engage with the attorney general's office during her testimony, but is beginning to become more evasive with her answers.
She smiles and speaks softly, responding politely, but has started to repeat the phrase, "I don't recall," in response to documents being shown to her, including letters and emails she wrote herself.
Chris Kise, one of Trump's attorneys, has also made several objections. Engoron questioned Kise if he was "going to object to every document."
A little louder: Judge asks soft-spoken Ivanka Trump to speak up
In less than 10 minutes on the witness stand, the judge twice asked the soft-spoken Ivanka Trump to speak a little louder and also asked her to move closer to the microphone.
Trump seems comfortable and cooperative on the stand as she recounts her work history.
The Trump family dynamics will be on display here today as Ivanka appears completely separate from the family. She is the first member not to sit at the defense table before taking the stand and it will be on everyone’s minds how much she tries to distance herself from her family and the family business.
The siblings split their defense strategy in early March when Ivanka, who had been using the same attorneys as her brothers, decided to hire her own personal attorney, Bennett Moskowitz. Moskowitz is her sole attorney and previously represented the estate of Jeffrey Epstein.
That’s not how defense attorneys work. Except on tv. Yes, you have your piece-of-shit Roy Cohns, but a defense attorney’s job is to defend you against the full weight of the state apparatus, which is, let’s just say, considerable.
Is it weird she’s using Epstein’s attorney? Yes. Very much so. But it’s not right to say an attorney takes on the morals of their client. That’s just not how it works.
They could always say no. It’s not like they were forced to take clients. Sure, everybody deserves to get a proper defense, but… I wouldn’t want to take that client.
It’s a “losing” scenario in my mind. We know they’re guilty. The question is whether that will be the true outcome or if some bullshit happens. Then you become either a dumb lawyer who took a losing case and lost. Or you become the shitbag that took a losing case and either delayed until trump was in power to quash all this or used unethical means to secure a bullshit outcome simply because of who your client is.
No doubt they will curry favor with the sycophants and rich criminals. But they’ll never be able to make those same plays again.
I don’t know they’re guilty. I think they are. But the whole point of the legal process is to concretely say “they are guilty” under the laws we all agree to live under. That’s very important.
Virtually no lawyer will do this because they are supposed to see it as an ethical duty to give everyone a fair shot. To turn down a client under those pretenses is to assume they are guilty and that is just not how lawyers are supposed to operate. It flies in the face of our basic civil liberties and the entire foundation of the profession.
I know this sounds high minded but that’s because it’s supposed to be. But I am in no way saying all lawyers are exemplars of morality. Lots of terrible lawyers in the world and plenty refuse because they think the case is bad and it’ll hurt their reputation to take a loss. But refusing to defend somebody because you already think they’re guilty? That’s still a huge line for many. And everyone deserves a fair trial.
Ivanka Trump, former President Donald Trump's elder daughter, is testifying today in the $250 million civil fraud trial.
She left the Trump Organization in 2017 to become a top White House aide for her father. Though she had been a co-defendant alongside her brothers Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump, an appeals court removed her from the case in June.
Judge Arthur Engoron shot down an effort from her lawyers to block her testimony. The defense team had asked for a deposition instead so she wouldn't have to leave her children.
She is the fourth and final member of the Trump family to testify in the trial. The former president testified Monday and his two adult sons took the stand last week.
New York Attorney General Letitia James, whose office is prosecuting the case, told reporters this morning that Ivanka Trump is "inextricably tied to the Trump Organization."
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