(C) Daily Kos This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . Ivanka Trump changes attorneys in NY fraud suit, distancing herself from her brothers and father [1] ['Backgroundurl Avatar_Large', 'Nickname', 'Joined', 'Created_At', 'Story Count', 'N_Stories', 'Comment Count', 'N_Comments', 'Popular Tags', 'Showtags Popular_Tags'] Date: 2023-04-26 The Trump Organization was fined $1.6 million last December after being found guilty in New York criminal court of running a tax fraud scheme in which top executives dodged personal income taxes on lavish perks. Don Jr. and Eric Trump remain represented by attorneys Clifford Robert and Michael Farina, Forbes reported. Those lawyers also had notified the court that they would be representing Ivanka as local counsel. Ivanka had also hired two Washington, D.C.-based attorneys independently of her brothers. But last week, the two D.C. attorneys withdrew from the case. And then New York attorney Bennet Moskowitz informed the court that he was taking over as Ivanka’s counsel, replacing Robert and Farina. Moskowitz has represented Jeffrey Epstein’s estate in lawsuits seeking millions of dollars in compensation for women who say they were sexually abused by the financier. The first sign that Ivanka might be changing her defense strategy and throwing her brothers under the bus came on March 6, when one of the D.C. attorneys representing only Ivanka sent a letter to the judge handling the case, asking him to delay the trial. The letter claimed: “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. The complaint affirmatively alleges that other individuals were responsible for those tasks.” Former state and federal prosecutor Michael McAuliffe told Newsweek that the timing of Ivanka’s swtich in attorneys was unusual because the deadline for discovery is April 30. "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." When her father was in the White House, Ivanka had a conspicuous role as a senior adviser who even accompanied him to meetings with European leaders. There was even a hashtag: #unwantedivanka. She was all over the place with daddy president. But it’s been a different story since the disgraced former president left the White House. On Nov. 16, the same day her father announced his third presidential campaign, Ivanka declared in a statement to CNN: “I love my father very much. This time around I am choosing to prioritize my young children and the private life we are creating as a family. I do not plan to be involved in politics. While I will always love and support my father, going forward I will do so outside the political arena.” On March 31, a day after her father was indicted on 34 felony counts of falsifying business records and conspiracy, involving hush money payments to an adult film star, Ivanka issued this rather bland statement of support: “I love my father, and I love my country. Today, I am pained for both,” she wrote in an Instagram story posted to her page. “I appreciate the voices across the political spectrum expressing support and concern.” RELATED STORY: The New York case is far from the first time Donald Trump was caught in a crime She has not had much to say on social media since then although she returned to Instagram on Monday to share a video and picture of her and 7-year-old son Theo attending the Miami Heat-Milwaukee Bucks NBA playoff game. Meanwhile, the New York Post’s Page Six even ran a gossip item on April 6 titled: “Is Tiffany Trump taking Ivanka’s place as Donald’s “First Daughter?” That’s because Tiffany Trump and her husband were front and center for Donald Trump’s post-indictment prime-time speech on April 4, while Ivanka was conspicuously absent. Ivanka and her husband, Jared Kushner, were celebrating Passover in Wyoming—a trip they’ve made in past years, the Post reported. Eric and Don Jr. were at Mar-a-Lago for the speech. But don’t cry for Ivanka. On the same day that her father was indicted, The New York Times reported that wealth funds in the United Arab Emirates and Qatar have invested hundreds of millions of dollars with Kushner’s private equity firm, joining Saudi Arabia in backing the venture. New York Times columnist Frank Bruni wrote a tongue-in-cheek opinion piece headlined “Ivanka is pained” on April 6 that said everything you need to know about just how opportunistic and self-serving Ivanka is. Bruni asked “Whither Ivanka? … Right here, right now, does she stand by Daddy? Or does she treat Mar-a-Lago as if it were Three Mile Island and run as fast and as far from it as she can?” And it gets better. Bruni wrote: [END] --- [1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2023/4/26/2166034/-Ivanka-Trump-changes-attorneys-in-NY-fraud-suit-distancing-herself-from-her-brothers-and-father Published and (C) by Daily Kos Content appears here under this condition or license: Site content may be used for any purpose without permission unless otherwise specified. via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds: gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/dailykos/