Ivanka Trump takes witness stand in father's fraud trial

Donald Trump's daughter Ivanka Trump took the witness stand in a Manhattan court on Wednesday to testify in a civil fraud trial that has exposed the inner workings of the former US president’s business empire and threatens to strip him of prized New York properties.

Ivanka Trump’s appearance follows testimony by her two adult brothers and Trump, who leads the race for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination despite his maelstrom of legal troubles. Unlike her siblings and father, she is not a defendant in the case.

As questioning got underway, Ivanka said she focused on redeveloping the Doral golf course in Florida and the Old Post Office property in Washington when she served as a top executive at the company from 2011 to 2017. She said she was "generally familiar" with accounting practices but was not a specialist.

The lawsuit by New York Attorney General Letitia James, a Democrat, accuses Trump and his family businesses of manipulating real estate asset values to dupe lenders and insurers and embellish Trump's reputation as a successful businessman.

Justice Arthur Engoron has already ruled that the conduct amounts to fraud and is now considering what penalties to impose.

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Denies wrongdoing

Trump has denied wrongdoing and accused James and Engoron of political bias and “election interference.” He repeated those claims on social media late on Tuesday, saying it was "Sad!" that Ivanka was being forced to testify.

During defiant and rambling testimony on Monday, Trump acknowledged that valuations for his properties were not always accurate but said the errors were not relevant to the financial institutions that used them to price deals.

His sons Donald Jr. and Eric Trump testified last week that the financial documents at the heart of the case were not their responsibility, though emails and other documents showed they may have been more involved than their testimony indicated.

A state appeals court removed Ivanka as a defendant in June, saying she was not involved in any conduct over which James could sue.

Unlike her brothers, she did not oversee the Trump Organisation during their father's 2017-2021 term in the White House.

James said Ivanka nevertheless was involved in manipulating property values.

"She will attempt today to distance herself from the company, but unfortunately the facts will reveal that in fact she was very much involved," James said on the courthouse steps.

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