There’s the letter of the law and there’s the spirit of the law. And then there are the Trumps, who can’t be bothered with either, because they’re too busy flying far above the law, unlike us mere mortals who obey it at our own peril. Ivanka Trump had a May 15 deadline to comply with Leticia James’ discovery request to explain why there was “‘an unexplained drop-off’ in emails for Ivanka Trump between 2014 and 2017.” James is still waiting for the answer. Newsweek:
In April, James’ office wrote to New York Judge Arthur Engoron to intervene, saying the defendants in the Trump Organization hadn’t handed over the necessary information and documents as part of the discovery process in a “timely and transparent fashion.”
James’ office told Engoron that among the “more significant issues” in the Trump family’s insufficient response to the discovery process was an explanation in the “unexplained drop-off” in emails for Ivanka Trump between 2014 and 2017.
According to James’ office, in the first nine months of 2014, Ivanka’s volume of emails was an average of 1,218 emails per month. This figure fell to 299 emails in October 2014, with an average of 242 emails through December 2015. In 2016, Ivanka averaged just 37 emails per month, according to James’ office.
“Not only have defendants failed to offer any substantive response to this inquiry, but there have been no documents produced by Ms. Trump,” the attorney general’s office told Judge Engoron in the April 25 letter.
In response, Engoron set the Trump family a deadline of May 12 to hand over all outstanding requested documents and communications as part of the discovery process, and a further May 15 deadline to submit a compliance affidavit to confirm under oath that they have complied with their legal obligations to hand over the requested information.
Let’s take a brief stroll down memory lane. You may recall that in March Ivanka took the interesting step of asking for the trial to be delayed so that she could organize her defense separately, while simultaneously arguing she was not involved in the allegations that form the crux of the case.
At the time this was considered to be Ivanka throwing the rest of the family under the proverbial bus. Her lawyers argued that the attorney general’s fraud suit “does not contain a single allegation that Ms. Trump directly or indirectly created, prepared, reviewed, or certified any of her father’s financial statements,” adding that “other individuals were responsible for those tasks.” What other individuals? Well, um, like her brothers? Those other individuals? Mebbe. Could be. She might even be talking about Daddy. He’s another individual person involved in this matter.
Attorney and legal political analyst Andrew Lieb suggested it was a “smart” move for Ivanka—who left The Trump Organization in 2017 to join her father’s White House administration—to distance herself from the rest of her family in the $250 million lawsuit.
“Ivanka arguing that she has a unique defense to the fraud case against her family because the lawsuit doesn’t even accuse her of lying about the company’s finances, as she had left the company back in 2017, is not a sign that she is going to throw her family under the bus. Instead, it’s a sign that whether the bus crashes or not, she isn’t getting aboard,” Lieb previously told Newsweek.
This is like the famous three monkeys, Hear No Evil, See No Evil, Speak No Evil. It’s not Ivanka’s show. Maybe it’s Daddy and her brothers’ but it’s not hers. That message is playing out loud and clear right now.
It will be interesting to watch this side show develop. We’ve got Donald Trump’s Main Ring, which is his presidential campaign and then the New York AG’s fraud case is definitely shaping up to be Ring Two. As a matter of fact, it might end up getting all the attention as Ring One, from time to time. Look for this week to be one of those times, as the attorney general will surely seek to find out why her discovery request still has not been complied with.
Sounds like contempt. Lock them the fuck up.
They’ve never been held accountable for anything. The most that happens to them is always something that they can throw money at and it goes away. They’ve never had to answer to criminal accusations or charges. They’ve played out of their league this time around. Melania was right when she didn’t want him to run for POTUS. The eyes of the world are on you when you sit in the nations house. She knew he wouldn’t be able to cover his tracks with money on this large of a scale’. It finally broke him financially. If it wasn’t for the begging he would have been flat broke a few years ago. He changed party’s for a reason and it sure paid off.
When my wife cheated on me in a no fault state, and because her attorney was ‘friends’ with the judge, I lost custody of my small children, after spending 6 years in infertility and adoption to get them, lost my home, and was placed in servitude to the tune of 1200./month child support. I was sent to jail 2x when I lost my job, in leg irons and handcuffs. All because my ex was a hand waving church going liar and hypocrite, and I was not. The fact I was a faithful husband and a hands on father mattered not. So excuse me for railing about the ABSOLUTE double standards and hypocrisy of this fraternity,(with all the evil implications), called the Law. The practitioners are hypocrites, and everytime it fails us, they offer rationalizations. Fact.
There are absolutely two criminal justice systems, one for the rich and one for the poor. That’s no secret.
Times have change Princess.
All your father’s stunts don’t work anymore.
Isn’t it bad enuf that the Kushners are toast in NYC Society?
Are you aiming for prison? Like your Father-in-Law.
I know for a fact that’s true Ursula. That’s why the phrase on the Supreme Court building grates on me. Just tell the phucking truth.
Eat the Rich!
Eat the rich… ah yuck. Just tax the ever living eff out of them!!! Changing my handle from name to DKOS handle … Lando314. Sci fi fan. Londo mollari (Babylon 5). Lando calrisian (Star Wars). But saying lando on Spanish: get londo!!!