This is a strange decision.
Ivanka Trump has taken steps to distance herself from her brothers and father in the Trump family fraud case filed by the New York attorney general.
According to Newsweek, last fall, New York Attorney General Letitia James filed a $250 million civil fraud lawsuit that named former President Donald Trump and his three eldest children, Donald Trump Jr., Eric Trump, and Ivanka Trump. The lawsuit alleges fraudulent practices at the Trump Organization and seeks to reclaim money as well as remove all four Trumps from their positions at the company and prohibit them from holding leadership roles in the state going forward.
Clifford Robert and Michael Farina were hired as legal representatives by all of the Trump children. Additionally, Ivanka Trump enlisted the services of her own team of lawyers based in Washington, D.C. who collaborated with Robert and Farina.
Last week, Ivanka Trump made a legal maneuver and decided to split from her family’s legal representation by hiring attorney Bennet Moskowitz. Moskowitz officially notified the court that the lawyers who previously represented her were no longer involved in her defense.
According to former federal prosecutor and former elected state attorney Michael McAuliffe, it is not unusual for Ivanka Trump to attempt to distance herself from her family in the ongoing legal battle. In an interview with Newsweek, McAuliffe suggested that due to the high-stakes nature of the fraud case, Ivanka “likely” made the decision to seek legal representation that would exclusively prioritize her own legal interests.
The timing of the switch in legal representation is considered unusual because it comes as the lawsuit’s discovery period, during which each party is allowed to gather evidence, is drawing to a close. The trial is anticipated to commence in October.
According to Michael McAuliffe, the timing of Ivanka Trump’s decision to switch legal representation is somewhat unusual because most of the evidence in the case has already been identified and developed during the discovery period. McAuliffe suggests that Ivanka may be looking ahead to the trial in the fall and wants an attorney who can focus solely on her legal interests and point out any disparities in the evidence against the different defendants. This would be difficult for a lawyer who is representing all or several of the defendants, as they would not be able to make such an argument realistically or effectively.