Apparently Ivanka Perjured Herself During Deposition Testimony About the Inauguration

It’s interesting how it’s quiet before a storm and then all hell breaks loose at once. This week, and the rest of the summer, in fact, may be such an event in Trump world. The latest rock on the pile — in other administrations, it would have been a bombshell, but in Trump world, it’s a rock on a pile — is the First Daughter and other members of Trump’s family and social set lining their pockets with money from the Inauguration Committee, and then lying about it.

The inauguration probe was launched last year by Karl Racine, the attorney general of Washington, DC. He has alleged that Trump’s inauguration committee misused charitable funds to enrich the Trump family. As Racine put it, the lawsuit maintains “that the Inaugural Committee, a nonprofit corporation, coordinated with the Trump family to grossly overpay for event space in the Trump International Hotel… The Committee also improperly used non-profit funds to throw a private party [at the Trump Hotel] for the Trump family costing several hundred thousand dollars.” In short, the attorney general accused the Trump gang of major grifting, and he is seeking to recover the money paid to the Trump Hotel so those funds can be used for real charitable purposes.

During a December 1 deposition—in which she swore to tell the truth—Ivanka Trump, the eldest daughter of Donald Trump who was an executive at the Trump Organization before becoming a White House adviser to her father, was asked if she had any “involvement in the process of planning the inauguration.” She replied, “I really didn’t have an involvement.” Ivanka testified that if her “opinion was solicited” regarding an inauguration event, she “would give feedback to my father or to anyone who asked my perspective or opinion.” And that was as far as her participation went.

And of course as soon as the words were out of her mouth, something else altogether different was taking place.

One email chain shows that Ivanka Trump was directly involved in the planning of at least one proposed event for the inauguration. On November 29, 2016, Rick Gates, then the deputy chairman of the Presidential Inauguration Committee (known as the PIC), emailed her the current schedule of inauguration events. He noted that Stephanie Winston Wolkoff, a lead producer working with the PIC, “is going to call you to discuss some additional ideas she has about some other events that we would like to see if you would be willing to do based on our meetings.” Ivanka replied to Gates and Winston Wolkoff, “Great. I am looping in my assistant Suzie who can coordinate a time for us to connect.”

A few days later, Winston Wolkoff sent a long “Dear Ivanka and Jared” email to Ivanka Trump and her husband. She thanked them for “our meeting yesterday” and presented them with a “high-level summary” of the inauguration plans “for your review.” This was a detailed report on the assorted events and themes being created for Trump’s inauguration. […]

Kushner replied the next day in a brief email to Winston Wolkoff and told her, “Thanks, Stephanie – looks like it’s going to be a special event! So glad you are involved!” Ivanka Trump responded, too, later that day, with a more elaborate email, stating, “As mentioned, my interest in hosting [the dinner or reception for women entrepreneurs] depends on the quality and theme of the event. ” She added, “I would love to bring together an incredible group of female entrepreneurs and thought leaders and integrate young girls in the programing. If we can make it an impactful event, I would love to do it.” She asked Winston Wolkoff to work with Abigail Klem and Rosemary Young, respectively the president and marketing head of Ivanka’s company. “It would be great to have a cross section of industry and also invite top female cabinet members and lawmakers,” she wrote. Ivanka also volunteered to help Winston Wolkoff if she had any problems coordinating with Reince Priebus, whom Trump had picked to be his White House chief of staff, and Katie Walsh, his deputy: “please let me know if you don’t get the direction that you need from Reince and Katie and I will step in.”

Ivanka lied through her teeth. She said she “didn’t really have an involvement” and then she was consulted about everything from running a panel to such minutiae as menu layout. Winston Wolkoff wrote in her book that [PR man Matthew] Hiltzik “was warning Ivanka to distance herself from the bad inauguration press and pushing me to the top of Shit Mountain.” Shit Mountain is where the Trump klan hails from, Miss Stephanie. Whether you knew it or not, you were headed to the peak of Shit Mountain the first time you walked into the Trump apartment in Manhattan.

The interesting thing about the timing of this breaking news story is that it possibly revs up the pressure amongst the Trump siblings for one of them to flip on the other, with respect to the Manhattan District Attorney’s investigation. With dirt coming out on Ivanka from other quarters, it drives the dial up another notch.

The Trump Organization might not even be able to hang onto its liquor licenses for too much longer. Oh, what a tangled orange web we weave, when we do absolutely nothing but deceive.