Ivanka Trump's political test
Ivanka Trump has known how to play her father ever since she could sit in his lap.
Once her father became President, White House staffers often called on her to keep President Trump from stepping on political landmines. Having Ivanka in one’s cell phone contacts was akin to Roy Cohn having Nancy Reagan on speed dial. Unfortunately, being a conduit for communication makes for a thin political resume.
That’s not to say Ivanka did not try to puff up her political credentials by exerting some policy influence — it’s just that without policy experience, Ivanka Trump came across like Bud Frump. That impression became blatantly obvious at the 2019 G20 conference where Ivanka tried to mingle with trade policy experts and political leaders.
What made that July escapade supremely silly was that Trump had tried to appoint Ivanka President of the World Bank six months earlier.
Were that the only misstep, Ivanka would be well ahead of her brothers, Don, Jr. and Eric. Alas, complaints about misspent inaugural funds, the Trump Organization’s history of financial malfeasance, and a myriad of unpaid hotel bills have beset the trio. And, she and her husband have been hit with questions about they managed to increase their net worth by over $165 million while working at the White House.
And although she’s been subpoenaed in New York State, investigated in D.C., and sued in multiple places, those political tests pale to what she faces from the Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the Capitol.
Political tests?
Few people exit public life without ensuring their political relevance, protecting their legacy, and trying the affect the historiography — Chester A. Arthur being one of the few exceptions.
It’s not as if Ivanka can go back to her clothing brand — the business shuttered itself in 2018 amid flagging sales, scandals, and ethics problems. She could just enjoy her wealth, but 40 years of being “Ivanka Trump” is not going to suddenly morph into “the Kushners of Indian Creek Island1”.
In a heavily footnoted multi-page letter, the Committee asked for information from Ivanka Trump about what President Donald Trump did and said before, during, and after the attack on the Capitol. The Committee included a two page memo from former White House Counsel McGahn about the the obligation to preserve work related messages from personal devices.
Like the McCarthy letter, the Committee’s request to interview Ivanka Trump seems focused on annotating the timeline — there is no implied assertion of wrongdoing nor could it be inferred. Thus making this political test all the more perilous.
Donald Trump was not only President but Ivanka’s father as well, and refusing either the invitation or contemptuously disregarding a subpoena is not going to go over well. In addition, it’s clear that protecting her interests and her father’s do not necessarily coincide here.
Trump’s three oldest children have shown a remarkable lack of political astuteness over the years, but it’s always been to protect their father. But unlike Eric or Don, Jr., Donald Trump has protected Ivanka despite the political flak.
For Trumpists eager for a political dynasty — Ivanka is their best hope. And while throwing her father under the bus would be political suicide, passing this political test may require her to bring her father to the bus depot.
Ivanka and Jared purchased a home on the Miami area island known as the “Billionaire bunker”.