What you should know
Thursday marks the second day of testimony from Donald Trump’s adult children in the $250 million civil fraud trial against the former president’s family and his company. Donald Trump Jr. will take the stand again to answer more questions from the office of Attorney General Letitia James. He will be followed by his brother, Eric Trump, who also served as the company’s executive vice president. On Wednesday, Trump Jr. faced questions about his role at the Trump Organization, especially as it related to financial statements that, according to the James, were deliberately inflated to benefit the company.
NEW YORK – Donald Trump Jr. will take the stand for a second day Thursday to continue his testimony in the $250 million civil fraud trial over whether his father exaggerated his wealth to banks and insurers, a case that threatens the former president’s real estate empire. Donald Trump.
After Donald Trump Jr. answers more questions from Attorney General Letitia James’ office, his younger brother, Eric Trump, who also worked as the company’s executive vice president, will give testimony.
The attorney general’s complaint describes Eric as responsible “for all aspects of the management and operation of the Trump Organization, including the acquisition, development and construction of new projects.” “Eric Trump actively spearheaded the growth of Trump Golf, including the addition of golf properties since 2006.”
The attorney general’s office is expected to focus much of its questioning of Eric Trump on a more than 200-acre property called Seven Springs in Westchester County, New York. The property was appraised at $30 million in 2006, and was placed on Trump’s list five years later. According to the attorney general’s lawsuit, his financial statements are worth more than $260 million.
The judge presiding over the case, Arthur Engoron, has already found the Trump Organization liable “for fraudulently inflating the value of Seven Springs.”
In his deposition in the case in March, Eric Trump described the property as “the Mar-a-Lago of the north. “It is one of the most incredible houses you have ever seen.” He said that although he was involved with the property and others that are the subject of the Attorney General’s investigation, he did not remember details of individual transactions because they occurred years ago and he, his brother and his father had other things on their hands. .
HIGHLIGHTS FROM TRUMP JR.’S TESTIMONY.
Donald Trump Jr., who was the first family member to testify Wednesday, greeted the first day with a joke: “I should have worn makeup,” he said as news photographers snapped his photo.
He was composed and seemed calm as a New York state lawyer asked him an initial series of questions about his education and career at the family business, the Trump Organization. He made some lighthearted comments; For example, when asked if he belonged to an accounting organization, he responded, “It sounds very exciting, but no.”
But the executive vice president of the Trump Organization was careful to establish that he is not an accountant or an expert in accounting standards that have been mentioned in the case. The lawsuit centers on whether the former president and his company deceived banks and insurers by inflating his net worth on financial statements.
Yolanda Vásquez has the details.
“I trust professionals and public accountants” on certain matters, Trump Jr. said.
When asked about the former Trump Organization accountant, Trump Jr. said he was someone the family trusted. Donald Bender “worked for us for decades. He handled virtually everything. He was an outside accountant who we relied heavily on for our accounting needs,” Trump Jr. said.
Bender testified earlier in the trial and attributed the inflated numbers in the financial statements he compiled to information he obtained from the Trumps. Trump’s lawyer suggested during Bender’s cross-examination that he was to blame because he was the accountant and that accounting was outside the family’s area of expertise.
When asked about the financial statements he approved, Trump Jr. said he had no role in preparing them but felt he had an “obligation” to listen to what Bender’s firm had put together. “These people had incredible intimate knowledge and I trusted them,” he said.
The Trumps deny any wrongdoing and are fighting to keep the business intact.
The former president’s eldest son is entering a pivotal moment as the trial of New York Attorney General Letitia James’ lawsuit enters its second month.
The attorney general is also expected to question Trump Jr. about his role in the valuations of certain Trump properties, including an apartment building on Park Avenue in Manhattan that was valued at $292 million, which the office says in court documents is ” approximately six times the appraised value” of the property.
WHAT OTHER TESTIMONIALS ARE EXPECTED
Eric Trump is expected to take the stand next Thursday. Then, on Monday, the former president, family patriarch and 2024 Republican favorite, is also scheduled to testify. State attorneys had hoped to call his eldest daughter, former Trump Organization executive and White House adviser Ivanka Trump, as her final witness on Nov. 8. On Wednesday, her attorney filed an appeal challenging a judge’s decision to compel her testimony.
James’ office is expected to ask Ivanka Trump about her Park Avenue apartment, as well as several loans she helped negotiate for the company.
In a statement from Eric Trump, he said his father had been the company’s director for a long time and acknowledged that although he no longer runs the day-to-day operations, if there was something his father wanted done, Eric and Donald Trump Jr. , most likely it will.
“Well, at the end of the day, my father owns the company. So I think any company owner is always at the top of the pyramid,” Eric Trump testified about his father’s role before becoming president. When asked if his father was now back on top of the pyramid, he said: “You know, in a way, maybe.”
WHAT THE LAWSUIT AGAINST TRUMP SAYS
James, a Democrat, alleges that Donald Trump, his company and top executives, including his sons Eric Trump and Donald Trump Jr., conspired to exaggerate his wealth by billions of dollars in his financial statements that were turned over to banks, insurers and others to secure loans and make deals.
In addition to seeking $250 million in damages, the lawsuit seeks to prevent Trump and his children from serving as officers or directors of any New York corporation.
Trump Jr. and Weisselberg were responsible for signing the company’s financial statements, presenting them as accurate and compiled in accordance with accepted accounting practices. James’ office alleges that none of those statements are true.
The filing also noted that one of the apartments in the building was valued at $25 million, even though Ivanka Trump, who had been renting it, had the option to buy it for $8.5 million.
For more information, visit NBCNews.com
2023-11-02 15:56:14
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