According to Forbes, Ivanka Trump replaced her lawyers who were defending her in a fraud suit against the New York Attorney General. Her former lawyers are still representing her brothers, Don Jr. and Eric Trump. The New York Attorney General, Letitia James, filed a lawsuit in September 2021 that alleged Donald Trump, his three eldest children, his real estate firm, and its top executives had inflated property values to gain economic benefits, such as securing cheaper loans. James is seeking $250 million in financial benefits to be disgorged and to restrict the defendants’ ability to conduct business in the state. The defendants have refuted the accusations.
After the suit was filed, Don Jr. and Eric Trump quickly hired Clifford Robert and Michael Farina of Robert & Robert to represent them. The following month, the same attorneys informed the court that they were representing Ivanka Trump as well. However, a sign of a rift in the siblings’ defense strategies emerged on March 6 when an attorney representing only Ivanka wrote to the judge requesting a trial delay, stating that “The complaint does not contain a single allegation that Ms. Trump directly or indirectly created, prepared, reviewed or certified any of her father’s financial statements.”
Last week, the rift became more apparent. Attorneys representing just Ivanka, Reid Figel and Michael Kellogg, withdrew from the case. Three days later, Bennet Moskowitz of Troutman Pepper informed the court that he was taking over as Ivanka’s counsel, and Robert and Farina were no longer representing her. Moskowitz, who previously represented the estate of Jeffrey Epstein, is now Ivanka’s sole attorney on the case.
As of now, the Trump siblings and their lawyers have not responded to requests for comment. The discovery period of the lawsuit is set to end on April 30th, and the trial is scheduled to begin in October.
