Ivanka Trump has remained notably silent about her father’s latest criminal indictment – as the former president prepares to be arrested and arraigned on a slew of 37 federal criminal charges.
Five days after a grand jury returned an indictment against Donald Trump, his daughter and former Trump administration senior adviser is yet to make any public statements acknowledging the scandal.
Yet, despite her silence over her father’s legal troubles, Ivanka took to Instagram on the eve of his arraignment on Tuesday to celebrate her daughter’s bat mitzvah with her family.
Mr Trump appeared to be notably absent from the family’s weekend festivities.
Ivanka posted a carousel of 10 photos commemorating daughter Arabella Kushner’s special day featuring most of the Trump clan.
All of the adult Trump children – Ivanka, Tiffany, Eric and Don Jr – were captured smiling as they posed together with their other halves. Mr Trump, meanwhile, was nowhere to be seen.
“With an abundance of love and immense pride, Jared and I celebrated our daughter Arabella’s Bat Mitzvah this past weekend. We reflect on the weekend with full hearts and an abundance of joy and gratitude,” she captioned the post.
“From her commitment to feeding hungry families through the Jewish Community Service Kosher Food Bank to supporting children with special needs through her work volunteering with the Friendship Circle and Whispering Manes, Arabella’s giving heart and commitment to making a positive impact embodies the spirit of this special milestone.
“We couldn’t be prouder of the extraordinary young woman she has become. Her kindness, creativity, humor, empathy and passion have filled our lives with so much joy and inspiration. May her Bat Mitzvah be the beginning of a beautiful and fulfilling chapter in her life.”
Mr Trump did however make a brief – and somewhat late – appearance in his daughter’s Instagram Stories.
After around 20 stories on her account, a handful of photos appeared of her father and Melania celebrating with Ivanka, Jared Kushner and their daughter – several weeks ago.
“Thank you dad and Melania for throwing Arabella the sweetest birthday dinner at Mar-a-Lago a few weeks ago in advance of her Bat Mitzvah! It was very special. We love you both so much!” she wrote across the final image.
Ivanka’s silence over her father’s latest legal drama – and his curious absence from the family event – is a marked difference from the stance taken by her brothers Eric and Don Jr who have publicly railed against the federal indictment.
It was a similar story back in late March when Mr Trump was indicted on criminal charges for the first time in a state case in New York.
While Eric and Don Jr went on a social media rampage against the charges – which accused Mr Trump of falsifying business records when he made hush money payments to hide affairs in the run-up to the 2016 presidential election – Ivanka largely stayed out of the matter.
In that case, she finally broke her silence around 18 hours after the grand jury indictment to say that she was “pained” for both her parent and her country.
“I love my father and I love my country. Today I am pained for both,” she wrote at the time.
“I appreciate the voices across the political spectrum expressing support and concern.”
She was also notably absent from Mar-a-Lago when Mr Trump delivered a post-arraignment speech to his most loyal supporters immediately after the New York arraignment on 4 April.
This time round, Ivanka is still yet to release any statement or make any comments on her father’s federal indictment.
And it remains to be seen whether or not she will attend his speech at Bedminster golf club in New Jersey after the Tuesday afternoon court appearance.
Last week, a grand jury indicted Mr Trump on 37 federal charges over his handling of classified documents, including national defence information, after leaving the White House.
The indictment, which was unsealed on Friday, alleges that Mr Trump deliberately lied to and misled authorities so that he could hold onto documents that he knew were classified.
On at least two separate occasions, Mr Trump then showed some of the classified documents to people not authorised to see them, the indictment alleges.
Stunning photos revealed that many of the documents were stored around a toilet, shower and ballroom at his Mar-a-Lago estate.
The charges include 31 counts of willful retention of national defense information and single counts of false statements and representations, and counts of conspiracy to obstruct justice, withholding a document or record, corruptly concealing a document, concealing a document in a federal investigation and a scheme to conceal.
Mr Trump’s longtime aide Walt Nauta is also facing six charges including several obstruction- and concealment-related charges after he allegedly helped move boxes of documents from Mar-a-Lago to Mr Trump’s residence and then lied to investigators about having any knowledge of the handling of the papers.
The former president flew from New Jersey to Miami International Airport on Monday afternoon to spend the night at his Doral resort before his initial court appearance on Tuesday afternoon.
Mr Trump will surrender to authorities in downtown Miami at 3pm ET where he will be formally arrested and appear for his arraignment in a federal courtroom, where he has vowed to plead not guilty to all charges.
“I’ll just say ‘not guilty.’ I didn’t do anything wrong,” he told Boston radio show WRKO on Monday.
Despite his confidence, The Independent exclusively revealed that Mr Trump was struggling to find attorneys willing to defend him in Florida.
Miami officials meanwhile are bracing for protests outside the courthouse with Mayor Francis Suarez saying at a press conference that the city is enacting plans to “make sure that everyone has a right to peacefully express themselves and exercise their constitutional rights” in “an obviously peaceful manner”.
Several supporters have voiced violent rhetoric online and MAGA loyalists Kari Lake and Laura Loomer, the Proud Boys and at least one Capitol rioter (named Baked Alaska) are expected to descend on Miami in support of the former president.
