Ivanka Trump appeals judge’s order to testify in New York fraud trial

Former President Trump’s daughter, Ivanka Trump, on Wednesday appealed a judge’s order that she must testify in her father’s ongoing fraud trial in New York.

“This appeal is taken from each and every part of the order insofar as it applies to Ms. Trump,” states her succinct notice appealing Judge Arthur Engoron’s Oct. 27 bench ruling and Oct. 30 scheduling order, which requires her to comply with a subpoena.

The appeal is primarily composed of a transcript from the hearing last month in which Ivanka Trump’s attorneys made their case to Engoron — and, where he ultimately sided with the New York attorney general’s office — despite the fact that she is no longer a party in the case.

The lawsuit, filed last year by New York Attorney General Letitia James’s (D) office, accuses the Trump family business of falsely inflating and deflating the value of its assets to receive lower taxes and better insurance coverage.

Ivanka Trump was dismissed from the case involving the former president, the Trump Organization and two of her brothers in June, after a New York appeals court ruled that the claims against her were barred by the state’s statute of limitations.

During last week’s hearing over Ivanka Trump’s protestations and in court filings, her attorney argued that compelling her to testify is outside of James’s jurisdiction and suggested that the attorney general’s office is attempting to “force her back into this case.”

“Ms. Trump is not a party in this action. Nor is Ms. Trump a New York resident,” her lawyers wrote in court filings. “It is black-letter law that, given those two facts, Ms. Trump is beyond the jurisdiction of this Court.”

Engoron disagreed with that assessment, finding that Ivanka Trump has “clearly availed herself of the privilege of doing business in New York.”

Ivanka Trump is asking New York’s appellate division to reconsider her jurisdiction argument in addition to several other arguments, including whether her subpoena was rightly issued.

She is scheduled to take the stand Nov. 8, though the appeal may delay her testimony.