The two older sons of Donald J. Trump have finally taken the stand as part of one of the embattled former president’s keenly awaited trials, and while both demonstrated somewhat different approaches to this case, their shared strategy seems to be deny, deny, deny.
To clarify, in addition to the four state and federal criminal indictments of Trump, this case is connected to civil fraud allegations in the state of New York against Trump, two of his children, and the Trump Organization. A judge determined before the trial that the Trumps are liable for the fraud. The current proceedings are being held to determine penalties.
The Trump family is testifying in a case New York Attorney General Letitia James brought forward in a lawsuit last year accusing them of inflating the value of several of Trump’s assets and properties to bolster his business needs. Trump also allegedly claimed his net worth was $3.6 billion in three separate years between 2011 and 2021.
James’ suit claims that assets like skyscrapers, golf courses, and his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida were routinely overvalued in fraudulent financial statements.
Both Trump brothers, who are executive vice presidents at the Trump Organization, were questioned about those very statements in their witness testimony on Thursday. Both denied any familiarity, knowledge, and involvement with those documents.
Donald Trump Jr. pointed to the Trump Organization’s accountants as the principal overseers of all the company’s finances. He was asked about an email exchange he had with Forbes that included misrepresentations about Trump’s triplex apartment.
Forbes flagged misstatements in that exchange that made their way into statements of financial condition and were submitted to banks and insurance companies, according to The New York Times. Trump Jr. even signed a letter to an outside accounting firm saying that the statements were free from material misstatement. He denied this in…
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