Ivanka Trump's failed attempt to evade testifying in her father's civil fraud trial this week didn't resonate with her cousin Mary Trump, who spoke to MSNBC's Mehdi Hasan on Sunday about the excuse Ivanka Trump gave to an appellate court.
Hasan mocked Ivanka Trump's claim of "undue hardship" due to her testimony falling "in the middle of a school week," calling it a "pretty amazing excuse." Mary Trump, who is a fierce and vocal critic of her uncle, Donald Trump, agreed.
“I think it just speaks to the breathtaking entitlement of these people that they don’t even think that other people are going to look at their past behavior to realize that they leave their kids home all the time,” she told Hasan, noting that Ivanka Trump and her husband “probably have lots of help that most people with young children don’t have.”
“And she also seems to have forgotten that she has a husband who can presumably take care of their children,” she added.
"[Trump's lawyers] would be putting themselves and their client in a very difficult position if they cannot impress upon him that he needs to either tell the truth or keep his mouth shut," @MaryLTrump tells @MehdiRHasan ahead of Trump's civil fraud trial testimony tomorrow. pic.twitter.com/Y1N1tXUetu
— The Mehdi Hasan Show (@MehdiHasanShow) November 6, 2023
Mary Trump also took note of the "interesting" behavior of the former president's legal team in the New York civil trial, arguing that they "seem to be goading" Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Arthur Engoron. The judge is presiding over New York Attorney General Letitia James' $250 million lawsuit against Donald Trump and his business for exaggerating his assets on financial statements. In a partial summary judgment ahead of the trial's start, Engoron found the former president and the other defendants liable of fraud in inflating those figures.
Last week, the judge expanded a gag order on Donald Trump, who was already prohibited from commenting on court staff, prosecutors or witnesses, to include the the former president's lawyers.
“I am wondering if they actually have forgotten that the judge is not Donald’s base,” Mary Trump told Hasan. “He cannot be spun. He is going to be looking at the facts and evidence.”
In a subscriber-exclusive video on her "The Mary Trump Show" podcast and newsletter, the former president's niece also told reporter Molly Jong-Fast that she believes Ivanka will throw Donald Trump "under the bus" when she testifies at the trial, The Hill reports.
Brothers Eric Trump and Donald Trump Jr. testified in the trial last week and are both defendants in the lawsuit. Ivanka Trump was also once a party in the suit, but a New York appeals court dismissed her from the case in June.
Mary Trump said she believes Donald Trump Jr. is the "least equipped to do this," according to Mediaite.
“They’re going to have to walk a very thin line between obfuscating in a way that’s not perjury and appeasing their father’s ego so that he doesn’t throw them under the bus when he testifies, which of course he’s going to do no matter what they do,” she said.
She and Jong-Fast also agreed in thinking that Ivanka Trump will "tell the truth and throw him under the bus," arguing that because she is "legitimately wealthy," unlike her siblings, and doesn't need to rely on her father, she does not have to hold back in court.
Former federal prosecutor Glenn Kirschner echoed those sentiments, speculating that the reason Ivanka Trump made such an effort to ditch her testimony is because she could potentially tank her father and brothers.
“I think she has potentially damaging testimony against her brothers and her fathers, and she’s doing everything she can to not have to give that testimony,” Kirschner began during an appearance on MSNBC.
"Three important data points I think that inform the fact that Ivanka might have some perilous testimony for her family members: One, she has distanced herself from her father ever since he left the presidency," he continued. "You don't see her like you see her brothers with these unhinged rants and interviews. She's kind of gone radio silent."
"Second, as you say she's been fighting mightily, trying everything from filing legal challenges to a subpoena — there were none — to claiming she has child care issues. I'm betting she can afford a nanny for the day," Kirschner told host Ayman Mohyeldin.
"The next data point is that when she testified before the Jan. 6 committee, Ayman, she may not have wanted to throw her father under the bus, but we all saw her do when they revealed some of that public testimony where she said, 'I credit Bill Barr that there was no widespread fraud undermining the election. I do not credit my father,'" he concluded. "Maybe she's prepared to present similarly incriminating and damning evidence on the business front, and that's why she's trying so hard to avoid having to testify."
“I think [Ivanka] has potentially damaging testimony against her brothers and her fathers, and she’s doing everything she can to not have to give that testimony,” @glennkirschner2 on why Ivanka Trump has fought so hard to avoid testifying in the NY civil fraud trial. pic.twitter.com/ARk1OUpuzv
— AYMAN (@AymanMSNBC) November 6, 2023
It is also likely that Donald Trump views his daughter's testimony as his "last hope" to avoid further detriment to his New York business empire after his sons' testimonies last week, former White House ethics czar Norm Eisen and former Hillsborough County State Attorney Andrew Warren argue in an opinion for The Daily Beast.
In their view, however, Ivanka Trump won't be her father's "saving grace" because she has already shown that she prioritizes looking out for herself in the grand scheme.
They explained that the former president is expected to follow the same strategy that his sons displayed during their testimonies, which hinged on pushing blame for falsified property valuations on company accountants and outsiders. Donald Trump will have to hope that Ivanka Trump won't worsen his circumstances when she takes the stand, the experts asserted.
"Of all his children, Ivanka has seemingly demonstrated the greatest willingness to speak honestly about her father," Eisen and Warren wrote, referencing her testimony before the Jan. 6 committee where she declared she didn't believe the election was stolen.
"Still, it is probably too much to expect that Ivanka will be fully candid when she testifies on Wednesday. Even her useful Jan. 6 testimony pulled some punches, and we can expect the same here," they added.
"That will keep her out of hot water — but it will do little to help her father and the other co-defendants win the case," they continued before predicting, "We are looking at a trial outcome that may strike a blow to Trump’s core in a way few other setbacks have.
"Combined with four looming federal and state criminal trials and several of his former enablers and accomplices pleading guilty in those or other proceedings — Michael Cohen, Allen Weisselberg, Sidney Powell, Jenna Ellis, and Kenneth Chesebro — the former president may come to the same conclusion that many of us have reached: that the legal walls are finally closing in."
