Ivanka Trump Splits From Family in Fraud Suit
Ivanka Trump has officially separated herself from her brothers and father in the Trump family fraud lawsuit brought by the New York attorney general.
Former President Donald Trump and his three eldest children—Donald Trump Jr., Eric Trump and Ivanka Trump—were named by New York Attorney General Letitia James in a $250 million civil fraud lawsuit last fall. The lawsuit seeks repayment of money from alleged fraudulent practices at the Trump Organization and also aims to remove all four Trumps from their roles at the business and ban them from future leadership roles in the state.
The Trump children all hired Clifford Robert and Michael Farina as legal representation. Ivanka Trump also hired her own team of lawyers based in Washington, D.C., that worked with Robert and Farina.
However, in a recent legal move, Ivanka Trump broke off from her family's legal representation and hired attorney Bennet Moskowitz last week. Moskowitz informed the court last week that the attorneys formerly representing her were no longer involved in her defense.
Newsweek reached out to Moskowitz via email, and Robert and Farina by phone for comment.
Trump's attempt at distancing herself from her family in the legal battle isn't unheard of, according to former federal prosecutor and former elected state attorney Michael McAuliffe. He told Newsweek that with the high-stakes fraud case, she "likely decided" that she needed legal representation solely committed to her legal interests.
"That's not unusual in a case involving multiple, but related, defendants," McAuliffe said.
What is unusual, though, is the timing of the switch. The lawsuit's discovery period, where each party can obtain evidence, is nearing its end. The trial is expected to start in October.
"The timing is somewhat unusual as discovery is ending so the evidence in the case is by now largely identified and developed," McAuliffe said. "It might well be that Ivanka Trump is looking ahead to the trial in the fall and wants a separate advocate who is free to point out the disparity in the evidence against the various defendants. A lawyer representing all or several of the defendants can't realistically or effectively make that argument."
Trump has been eyeing the legal switch since March when her legal team requested that the judge delay the trial. The legal team argued that the complaint filed by James "does not contain a single allegation that Ms. Trump directly or indirectly created, prepared, reviewed or certified any of her father's financial statements. The complaint affirmatively alleges that other individuals were responsible for those tasks."
Neama Rahmani, an attorney and former federal prosecutor, told Newsweek that by blaming her brothers for the fraudulent actions, Trump's defense is inconsistent with theirs.
"Her original lawyers are ethically required to withdraw rather than represent clients with divergent defenses," Rahmani said. "If not, the New York attorney general could move for their disqualification."
It is not the first time Trump has distanced herself from her family. She opted out of attending her father's third presidential campaign announcement at Mar-a-Lago in November. Trump, who was a senior adviser in her father's administration, said she did "not plan to be involved in politics" during his third campaign.
Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump are still working with attorneys Clifford Robert and Michael Farina.
