Sons of former President Trump testify in trial on charges of fraud on the value of assets

2023-11-01 20:33:51, Kosova & Bota CNA

Sons of former President Trump testify in trial on charges of fraud on the value

When Donald Trump became president in 2017, he passed the day-to-day management of the estate to his two oldest sons, Donald Jr. and Eric Trump.

While the Trump family is already fighting to preserve the family business, the two brothers are expected to testify in the trial on fraud charges in New York, which endangers the future of the Trump Organization.

Donald Trump Jr. is expected to testify on Wednesday and Eric Trump on Thursday, thus marking a new phase in the second month of the trial in New York started by the lawsuit of the prosecutor Letitia James.

Prosecutor James, elected to this office as a Democratic candidate, accuses former President Donald Trump, his company and executives, including Eric and Donald Trump Jr., of colluding to exaggerate the value of billions of dollars in financial statements sent to banks , insurances and others, in order to secure favorable loans and reach business agreements.

Mr. Donald Trump, the former president and family patriarch and the Republican front-runner for the 2024 presidential election, is expected to testify on Monday, followed on November 8 by the testimony of his eldest daughter, the former head of the Trump Organization. and former White House adviser Ivanka Trump. Next, it is expected that the defense lawyers will have the chance to call their witnesses.

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Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump are executive vice presidents at the Trump Organization and among the defendants in Attorney James' lawsuit. Eric Trump oversees the company's operations, while Donald Trump Jr. is involved in the expansion of the company's real estate. He, along with early chief financier Allen Weisselberg, are also among the people former President Trump gave temporary authorization to act as trustees for the company's assets while he served as president.

Prior to these court hearings, Judge Arthur Engoron had ruled that Mr. Trump's financial statements were untrue. He ordered a person authorized by the court to take control of some of Mr. Trump's companies — potentially stripping the Trump family of control of some of its most important properties, such as Trump Tower in New York. However, the appeals court has banned the implementation of this order for the time being.

Like their father, both boys have denied wrongdoing.

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Eric Trump was present for several days during the judicial process, more often during the days when his father was also present. He has commented sporadically, generally on social media. On October 5, he published a video on the Truth Social network, where prosecutor James is seen criticizing his father. He wrote: "This is the corruption that my father and our family are fighting! The system is used as a political weapon, (it is) broken and disgusting!".

Donald Trump Jr. has not appeared in court, but when testimony began on October 2, he repeatedly denounced the court case and Judge Engoro as unfounded. New York state law does not allow for lay juries in these types of lawsuits, so it will be up to Judge Engoron to decide.

"It doesn't matter what the rules are, it doesn't matter what the Constitution says, it doesn't matter what the general and business practices would be," Donald Trump Jr. said. on Monday for the Newsmax television channel. "It does not matter. They have an option, they have an end goal and they will do whatever it takes to achieve it."

Mr. Donald Trump criticized Judge Engoro on Wednesday on the Truth Social network, as a political appointee who hates former President Trump and who is doing the duties assigned to him by the Democratic Party.

“Leave my children alone, Engoron. You are a disgrace to the legal profession!", former President Trump wrote in one of his posts.

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Ahead of Donald Trump Jr.'s testimony. and Eric Trump, prosecutors have questioned other witnesses about their role in running the Trump Organization and their involvement over the years in valuing their father's real estate and preparing his financial statements. Their names have also appeared in various communications via e-mail that have already become part of the prosecution's evidence.

David McArdle, of Cushman & Wakefield, said in his testimony that Eric Trump had a significant role in determining the value of a complex of homes that were never built on the Trump golf course in the suburbs of New York City. . Mr. McArdle said that Eric Trump concluded at a higher value than he himself had determined for the project and that it would not have been credible if they had continued with that high figure.

Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump have previously given snippets of evidence for this lawsuit. During opening statements on Oct. 2, prosecutors showed nearly a minute of footage from each's depositions.

In a July 2022 deposition, Donald Trump Jr. testified about his shallow knowledge of accounting standards, which prosecutors say were applied in some cases and ignored in other cases during the preparation of former President Trump's financial statements.

Trump Jr., who has never been an accountant, said he did not recall using these standards in his work. He drew a smile from the prosecutor when he said that he may have learned about these standards perhaps during his freshman classes at university, but that he did not remember more than the fact that they are generally accepted.

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In his testimony in March 2023, Eric Trump testified that, "I don't think I had any involvement in the 'Statement of Financial Condition,' as far as I can recall." He appeared to downplay his role as an executive in the company, saying during testimony that he had tried to focus on things he was interested in and passionate about while sharing management responsibilities with his brother.

"I'm the person for construction, concrete and field operations," Eric Trump said, according to a transcript of his testimony.

Asked at another point about decision-making earlier in his career, Eric Trump said: “I lay the concrete. I manage properties. I don't focus on valuations between a law firm and (the) Cushman firm. It's just not what I do based on my day-to-day responsibilities."

Former President Donald Trump attended the trial for three days in early October and appeared again for four days over the past two weeks, but his campaign agenda suggests he is unlikely to return to attend the boys' testimony. his.

During an earlier appearance, former President Trump protested in front of cameras outside the courthouse, calling the court case a "sham," a "fraud," and "a continuation of the greatest witch hunt of all time." He also angered the judge on two occasions, thus receiving $15,000 in fines for violating an order not to publicly comment on court employees./ voa