Two fraud investigations into President Donald Trump and his businesses in New York are “100% motivated by politics, publicity, and rage,” Ivanka Trump tweeted Thursday.
“This is harassment pure and simple. This ‘inquiry’ by NYC democrats is 100% motivated by politics, publicity, and rage. They know very well that there’s nothing here and that there was no tax benefit whatsoever,” she wrote:
“These politicians are simply ruthless,” Ivanka continued.
Her tweet referenced a New York Times article that said the investigations “have expanded to include tax write-offs on millions of dollars in consulting fees, some of which appear to have gone to Ivanka Trump, according to people with knowledge of the matter.”
However, Alan Garten, general counsel for the Trump Organization, said “this is just the latest fishing expedition in an ongoing attempt to harass the company.”
“Everything was done in strict compliance with applicable law and under the advice of counsel and tax experts. All applicable taxes were paid and no party received any undue benefit,” Garten noted.
The Times article continued:
The inquiries — a criminal investigation by the Manhattan district attorney, Cyrus R. Vance Jr., and a civil one by the state attorney general, Letitia James — are being conducted independently. But both offices issued subpoenas to the Trump Organization in recent weeks for records related to the fees, the people said.
In December 2018, James reportedly vowed to launch a widespread probe into the president and members of his family, according to Breitbart News.
“We will use every area of the law to investigate President Trump and his business transactions and that of his family as well,” she said at the time, adding, “We want to investigate anyone in his orbit who has, in fact, violated the law.”
Despite the attorney general’s comments, Ivanka said in another tweet on Thursday that “This fishing expedition is very clearly part of a continued political vendetta”: