Former First Daughter Ivanka Trump has ditched the attorneys who were defending her in a New York State fraud case, separating her counsel from that of her brothers Donald Jr. and Eric.
New York State Attorney General Letitia James is suing the three Trumps, who are officers in their father’s companies, along with their father, former President Trump, the companies and their other officers over allegations of bank, tax and insurance fraud.
The attorney general’s lawsuit alleges that Trump, his officers and his organization perpetrated more than 200 instances of fraud over 10 years in efforts to inflate his personal net worth to attract favorable loan agreements. James is seeking $250 million in financial benefits and restrict the defendants’ ability to conduct business in New York State.
The defendants dispute the allegations.
Trump’s sons Don Jr. and Eric had hired Clifford Robert and Michael Farina of the law firm Robert & Robert to represent them last September. In October, those attorneys notified the court that Ivanka Trump had also hired them as her counsel.
Simultaneously, Ivanka Trump also hired Washington DC-based attorneys Reid Figel and Michael Kellogg of Kellogg Hansen independent of her brothers.
The first sign that Ms. Trump intended to split from her brothers emerged on March 6, when the Kellogg Hansen attorneys wrote to the judge, asking him to delay the trial.
“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,” their letter states. “The complaint affirmatively alleges that other individuals were responsible for those tasks.”
Tuesday a week ago, Ms. Trump’s exclusive attorneys withdrew from the case. Three days later Bennet Moskowitz of Troutman Pepper informed the court that he was taking over her counsel, and that the attorneys she shared with her brothers would no longer be representing her.
Moskowitz, who previously represented the estate of the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, is now Ivanka Trump’s sole attorney on the case.
The latest actions by Ms. Trump, who was also a Presidential adviser during her father’s term in office, come after her father, the former President, was arraigned on April 4 in Manhattan criminal court on 34 counts of falsifying business records and conspiracy related to hush money payments made during the 2016 Presidential election.
The former President—who is running for reelection in 2024—has called both James’ case and the hush money case political witch hunts.
None of the Trump siblings nor any of their attorneys responded to requests for comment.
