Ivanka Trump testifies in NY AG business fraud case

Ivanka Trump, the eldest daughter of former President Donald Trump, is scheduled to testify Wednesday in the $250 million civil fraud trial that threatens her family’s business empire.

Ivanka has tried in vain to avoid the witness stand: An appeals court last week rejected her bid to pause a ruling from the presiding judge who had ordered her to testify.

She is expected to be asked about various aspects of New York Attorney General Letitia James’ case, which accuses Trump Sr., Donald Trump Jr., Eric Trump and other defendants of falsely inflating asset values to get tax benefits and other financial perks.

In addition to seeking a remarkable, quarter-of-a-billion dollars in damages, James wants the court to permanently bar the ex-president and his sons from running a business in New York.

Ivanka was originally listed as a co-defendant, but she was dismissed from the case in June after a New York appeals court found that the claims against her fell outside a statute of limitations.

Manhattan Supreme Court Judge Arthur Engoron, who will deliver verdicts in the no-jury trial, has already found the defendants liable for fraudulently misstating the values of real estate properties and other assets on key financial forms. His pretrial ruling ordered the cancellation of their New York business certificates, though that order is on hold while the trial proceeds.

The trial itself will determine how much the defendants will be ordered to pay in damages or other penalties. The judge will also evaluate six other claims in James’ lawsuit that have yet to be resolved.

Ivanka Trump was an executive vice president for development and acquisitions at the Trump Organization until 2017, when she joined her father’s presidential administration as a senior advisor. She “negotiated and secured financing” for company properties and “directed all areas of the company’s real estate and hotel management platform,” according to James’ lawsuit.

She is expected to be questioned about loans for the Old Post Office building — the former site of Trump’s Washington, D.C., hotel — and the Trump Doral property, both of which she is credited with having negotiated.

She is also expected to be asked about the valuation of her penthouse apartment and her father’s introduction to the Personal Wealth Management team at Deutsche Bank.

Ivanka’s testimony follows that of her father on Monday, who angrily lashed out at James, Engoron and his other self-perceived “haters” from the witness stand.

Trump also…