Don Jr. Takes the Stand During the Donald Trump Fraud Trial in New York
Donald Trump Jr., or Don Jr. for short, is the first of Trump's three adult children testifying in their father's New York fraud trial where he and his family are set to lose their real estate empire based in New York.
Don Jr. is one of his father's co-defendants in the case, and he took to the stand for the first time.
Under oath, he stated that he does not remember working on the Trump Organization's financial statements, adding that he relied on the expertise of outside accounting firm Mazars, and on Donald Bender, the Trump family's former accountant.
This contradicts the testimonies by Bender and the other accounting firms that serviced the Trump Organization, as well as the testimonies of other witnesses like former Donald Trump fixer Michael Cohen, that it was the Trump family that cooked the books when it comes to how much Trump properties are actually worth.
While trying to get a loan or presenting to the public, other witnesses testified that Trump often blew up the worth of his assets to secure large loans. However, according to CNBC, he and his brother, Eric, have downplayed their involvement in creating the financial statements that New York Attorney General Letitia James said are fraudulent.
Four members of the Trump family are testifying in the case: Donald Trump, Don Jr., Eric, and Ivanka Trump.
Ivanka had previously been dropped as a co-defendant but was ordered to testify as she may have some additional information regarding the company's shady practices.
Don Jr. Distancing Himself From Fraudulent Financial Statements During Donald Trump Fraud Trial
The case filed by New York Attorney General Letitia James stated that "As Executive Vice Presidents, the three children were intimately involved in the operation of the Trump Organization's business," with witnesses admitting that they were highly involved in inflating their father's assets.
"I didn't give them a value of $246 million. I could have sat there and gone through each one of the deals individually with Allen Weisselberg, Jeff McConney, Donald Bender, and given them an idea of what I believe the cash flow coming from those deals would have been worth, not even knowing it was for the purposes of this," Don Jr. testified.
According to CNN, Don Jr. has distanced himself from the fraudulent financial statements since last year, saying in a previous deposition, "I had no real involvement in the preparation of the Statement of Financial Condition and don't really remember ever working on it with anyone."
Donald Trump Rants on Social Media About His Children Testifying During New York Fraud Trial
During the early morning hours on the day that his son, Don Jr., testified, Trump went on a 2 AM rant and attacked Judge Arthur Engoron. While his gag order prohibits Trump from attacking his court staff and witnesses, Engoron is allowing Trump to attack him.
"Leave my children alone, Engoron. You are a disgrace to the legal profession!" he wrote on his platform, Truth Social, hours ahead of the Don Jr. testimony.
Trump had been very unhappy with his three adult children testifying and has consistently attacked the judge about it.
READ MORE: Trump Organization Convicted of 17 Felonies, Gets Maximum Punishment
This article is owned by Latin Post.
Written by: Rick Martin
WATCH: Trump Freaks Out as His Son Don Jr. Takes the Stand in New York Fraud Trial: A Closer Look - Late Night with Seth Meyers
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