New York attorney general Letitia James could wrap up the presentation of the state’s civil-fraud case against former president Donald Trump today, after eliciting testimony from his daughter, Ivanka Trump.
Trial lawyers like to open and close strong. In this instance, though, it would be a mistake to read too much into Ivanka’s appearance as the state’s closer. She is a reluctant witness, and she is testifying last because she fought the state’s subpoena. Only last Thursday (November 2) did a New York appellate court decline to disturb trial judge Arthur Engoron’s denial of her motion to avoid testifying. She had claimed that doing so would be a hardship, as she is now a Florida resident with three young children in school; Engoron rejected that argument but ruled that she should not be forced to testify earlier than Wednesday, November 8 (today).
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