How Ivanka Trump Avoided Real Estate Fraud Charge In 2012
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By Josh Nathan-Kazis October 4, 2017
A startling expose has revealed that Manhattan’s district attorney, Cyrus Vance, had prosecutors in his office stop pursuing a criminal case against Ivanka Trump and Donald Trump Jr. in 2012 after a visit from Marc Kasowitz, who had been a top donor to Vance’s campaign.
According to the story, which was produced by WNYC, Pro Publica and New Yorkere, the potential charges stemmed from allegations that Ivanka Trump and her brother had misled buyers about how well units at a Trump Organization development in Manhattan, the Trump SoHo, were selling. The siblings’ legal team, including David Frankel, now the Ambassador to Israel, was having little luck negotiating with low-level prosecutors in the D.A.’s office. But Marc Kasowitz, Donald Trump’s personal attorney, was able to secure a meeting with Vance himself.
Soon after the meeting, Vance had his staff end the investigation.
Kasowitz had been one of Vance’s largest donors that year. Vance returned those donations before meeting with Kasowitz. But “within weeks of the case being resolved,” the outlets reported, Kasowitz contacted Vance’s campaign to offer to help him fundraise. Kasowitz eventually donated $32,000 to the Vance campaign, and helped the campaign raise $18,000 more.
Contact Josh Nathan-Kazis at nathankazis@forward.com or on Twitter, @joshnathankazis.
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