Donald Trump’s children are taking center stage in the $250 million civil fraud trial against the Trump family and their company in New York this week, and Donald Trump Jr. will take the stand this Wednesday.
New York prosecutors are expected to question the former president’s eldest son about his involvement in and knowledge of financial statements that New York Attorney General Letitia James said were grossly inflated.
He will be followed by his brother Eric Trump, who is expected to testify Wednesday night or Thursday, and his father, the former president, will take the stand on Monday. His testimony will be followed by that of his daughter Ivanka Trump.
James’ office claims Trump’s children were “aware of and knowingly participated in” a long-running scheme to falsely inflate the company’s assets in order to obtain loans and insurance policies on more favorable terms than they had. right. All three children and their father have denied wrongdoing, and an appeals court ordered Ivanka Trump removed as a defendant in the case, finding the claims against her too old.
The children were executive vice presidents of the Trump Organization, the real estate company owned by their father, but Ivanka Trump left the company to join her father in the White House.
Donald Jr., Eric and then-CFO Allen Weisselberg formally took over the company after Donald Trump was elected president. Weisselberg was removed from his position as top trustee in 2021 after being accused of tax fraud. He subsequently pleaded guilty and testified against the company in a related criminal trial.
WHAT TO EXPECT FROM THIS WEDNESDAY’S TESTIMONIALS
Donald Trump Jr.’s testimony is expected to focus on his involvement in the company’s financial statements, documents the company shared with banks and insurers that the attorney general says vastly overstated its assets and properties.
When their father was in office, Trump Jr. and Weisselberg were responsible for signing off on 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 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.
Yolanda Vásquez has the details.
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.
Next on the attorney general’s list after Trump Jr. is Eric Trump, who they described in their lawsuit 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. .
THE TESTIMONY OF IVANKA TRUMP
Ivanka Trump was originally scheduled to testify in the case on Friday, but her appearance was delayed until next week due to a prior commitment, a Trump lawyer said in court on Monday. James’ office is expected to ask him about her Park Avenue apartment, as well as several loans she helped negotiate for the company.
His testimony will come after his father, who is scheduled to testify Monday. In his statement, Eric Trump said his father had been the company’s longtime director and acknowledged that although he no longer runs day-to-day operations, if there was something his father wanted done, Eric and Donald Trump Jr. would do it. more 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.”
“Would I follow him if he said, ‘You know, Eric, I think it would be very smart if we acquired this golf course?’ Yes, I would follow his directive,” Eric Trump said.
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.
2023-11-01 14:26:02
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