Donald Trump Jr. denies involvement in father’s fraudulent financial statements
Donald Trump Jr., the eldest son of former President Donald Trump, took the stand on Wednesday and Thursday in the New York civil fraud trial against his family and their company, the Trump Organization. He denied any involvement in the preparation or review of his father’s financial statements, which the judge has already ruled were fraudulent and inflated the former president’s net worth by billions of dollars.
The trial, which began on Oct. 12, is the result of a lawsuit filed by New York Attorney General Letitia James in 2020, accusing the Trumps and their company of falsifying business records, conspiracy and fraud to obtain financial benefits from banks, insurers and business partners. The lawsuit seeks $250 million in damages and penalties, as well as a ban on the Trumps from serving as officers or directors of any New York-based company for 10 years.
The judge, Arthur Engoron, has already found the Trumps liable for fraud, based on the evidence presented by James’ office, which showed that the Trumps’ financial statements overstated the value of certain properties and assets by hundreds of millions of dollars, and omitted or misrepresented liabilities and debts. The trial is proceeding on the other allegations, and the judge will also determine the amount of disgorgement, or the recovery of ill-gotten gains, that the state should receive from the Trumps.
Donald Trump Jr. was the first defense witness to be called, after the state rested its case on Tuesday, following more than 20 witnesses, including the former president himself, who testified for nearly nine hours on Monday. The former president’s testimony was marked by clashes with the judge and the prosecutors, as he repeatedly blamed his accountants for the errors in his financial statements, and claimed that a disclaimer in the documents absolved him of responsibility — an argument that the judge has already rejected.
Donald Trump Jr., who appeared relaxed and joked with the court staff, echoed his father’s defense, saying that he relied on the accountants to prepare and verify the financial statements, and that he was not involved in the process at any point in time, even after he became a trustee on his father’s revocable trust in 2017, when the former president took office. He said he might have discussed some of the licensing deals with the accounting team, but that he did not know they would use those values in the financial statements.
“I did not. The accountants worked on it, that’s what we pay them for,” he said on the stand.
He also testified that he did not review the financial statements before they were sent to banks or insurers, and that he did not sign any of the documents, except for one in 2011, which he said he did not read carefully. He said he trusted his father and his company to handle the financial matters, and that he focused on the operational aspects of the business.
“I wasn’t involved in compiling the statement of financial condition,” he said.
The state’s lawyers challenged Donald Trump Jr.’s testimony, pointing out that he was a senior executive and a board member of the Trump Organization, and that he had a fiduciary duty to oversee the financial affairs of the company. They also presented emails and documents that showed that he was aware of some of the discrepancies and inaccuracies in the financial statements, such as the inclusion of a property in Scotland that was not owned by the Trumps, and the exclusion of a $26 million loan that the Trumps owed to Deutsche Bank.
Donald Trump Jr. admitted that he knew about some of the issues, but that he did not think they were material or significant, and that he did not follow up with the accountants to correct them. He also said that he did not know the purpose or the audience of the financial statements, and that he did not care about them.
“I didn’t think it was relevant to me or my job,” he said.
Donald Trump Jr.‘s testimony is expected to continue on Friday, followed by his siblings, Ivanka Trump and Eric Trump, who are also defendants in the lawsuit, and who have also denied any wrongdoing. The defense is also expected to call some of the accountants who worked on the financial statements, as well as some of the banks and insurers who received them, to try to show that they were not misled or harmed by the Trumps’ representations.
The trial, which is being livestreamed on the court’s website, is expected to last until the end of November.
Credits: cbsnews.com, cnn.com, BBC.com