2023-11-02 20:25:34
© Reuters. Donald Trump Jr. leaves court in New York after giving testimony 11/02/2023 REUTERS/Mike Segar
Por Jack Queen
NEW YORK (Reuters) – Eric Trump and Donald Trump Jr. took the stand on Thursday in a New York courtroom and both denied involvement in documents that a judge ruled were fraudulently manipulated to inflate the value of their father’s companies , former President of the United States Donald Trump.
In sequential court appearances, Trump’s two adult children said they were not involved in the questionable valuation that now threatens to impact the real estate empire that catapulted Trump to fame. Trump placed his two sons in charge of the business during his term as President, between 2017 and 2021.
Donald Jr., 45, held accountants inside and outside the company responsible, who put together the financial statements used to secure loans and take out insurance that kept the company running.
“They had more information and details about all of this than I would have,” he said on the witness stand. “That’s why we have accountants.”
Those documents are at the center of a civil fraud trial in New York that threatens to damage the real estate empire that built Trump’s reputation as a business mogul before he entered politics.
Donald Jr. said the company has strengthened its accounting practices since New York Attorney General Letitia James began investigating its finances. The company’s chief financial officer is now a certified public accountant, he said, unlike former chief financial officer Allen Weisselberg, who pleaded guilty to tax crimes in another case in 2022.
Eric Trump, in turn, said he didn’t even know such documents existed.
“I didn’t know anything about it until this case came to light,” he said.
He showed nervousness when his claim was contradicted by emails showing he was asked to evaluate the underlying data used to compile the valuations.
“We are a large real estate organization. Yes, I’m pretty sure we had financial statements,” he said.
Neither child vouched for the accuracy of these assessments.
However, evidence presented at trial shows that both sons signed statements attesting that they had provided accurate information to Mazars, the outside accounting firm that prepared the financial statements.
Trump himself is expected to testify on Monday in the latest of many court appearances by the frontrunner for the Republican Party’s 2024 presidential nomination.
Judge Artur Engoron has already ruled that Trump, his two adult children and the company fraudulently inflated the values of properties and other assets to obtain favorable financing terms.
Trump has denied any wrongdoing in all of his criminal and civil cases and has maintained a steady stream of personal and online attacks, accusing James and Engoron of political bias.
“This is a huge miscarriage of justice,” he wrote on social media when the trial resumed on Thursday.
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