According to NBC news, Judge Arthur Engoron said Ivanka could not be called as a witness before November 1. This gives her time to appeal the ruling if she chooses to.

After Ivanka Trump was dismissed as a defendant months ago, defense attorneys and her lawyer contended that she shouldn’t have to testify, noting that she moved out of New York and left her Trump Organization job in 2017, the Associated Press (AP) reported.

However, the state’s lawyers argued that the former Trump Organization executive vice president has relevant information, the report said.

What’s the civil fraud case about?

Donald Trump and his family business currently face trial in New York to determine how much they owe in penalties after a judge found they inflated the former US president’s assets by billions of dollars to secure more favorable loan and insurance terms, Reuters reported.

The civil case was brought by Democratic New York Attorney General Letitia James against Donald Trump, the frontrunner for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination.

Trump, his businesses and his two adult sons were accused of inflating assets by as much as $1.9 billion to $3.6 billion per year between 2011 and 2021 to save hundreds of millions of dollars on loans and insurance.

James’ office alleged that Trump and his associates used incorrect figures for the sizes of his properties and false or highly unrealistic assumptions about their development potential to arrive at the inflated values.

James is now seeking at least $250 million in penalties, a ban against Trump and his sons Donald Jr and Eric from running businesses in New York, and a five-year commercial real estate ban against Trump and the Trump Organization.

Why Ivanka Trump has been asked to testify?

During the hearing on Friday, state lawyers argued that Ivanka Trump was a key participant in some events discussed in the case and remains financially and professionally intertwined with the family business and its leaders.

“She is 100% someone who can come in and testify,” said Kevin Wallace, a lawyer for the attorney general’s office, was quoted by the AP as saying.

The judge, who passed a verdict on Friday, sided with the state, citing documents showing that Ivanka Trump continued to have ties to some businesses in New York and still owns Manhattan apartments.

“Ms. Trump has clearly availed herself of the privilege of doing business in New York,” Engoron was quoted by reports as saying.

Meanwhile, Ivanka Trump’s lawyer, Bennet Moskowitz, told the judge on Friday that state lawyers “just don’t have jurisdiction over her.”

According to the AP report, Ivanka announced in January 2017 that she was stepping away from her job at the Trump Organization. She soon became an unpaid senior adviser in the Trump White House. After her father’s term ended, she moved to Florida.

The office said it wanted to ask her questions about Trump’s former Washington, DC hotel, and noted she profited from the sale.

(With inputs from agencies)

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Updated: 27 Oct 2023, 09:57 PM IST