Eric Trump spars with lawyer in New York attorney-general’s fraud case
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Donald Trump’s son Eric turned testy on the witness stand on Thursday as he sparred with a lawyer for the New York attorney-general about his knowledge of the financial statements at the heart of a civil fraud case against his family.
Andrew Amer, a lawyer for New York attorney-general Letitia James, repeatedly pressed Eric Trump to admit that he was aware of the annual “statement of financial condition” outlining his father’s wealth, and used by the Trump Organization in its business dealings.
Yet Eric Trump denied awareness of the report — even when confronted with emails in which subordinates asked him for information to help prepare the report. After more than an hour of questioning by Amer, in which they circled the same topic, the witness appeared to grow flustered.
“We’re a major organisation — a massive real estate organisation. Yes, I’m pretty sure I understand we have financial statements. Absolutely,” he retorted at one point, his voice rising.
A judge in Manhattan state court has already found the former president and his adult sons, Donald Jr and Eric, inflated their wealth by as much as $2.2bn in order to secure loans for their family business on advantageous terms and other benefits. The trial will determine whether the Trumps pay upwards of $250mn in penalties and face other sanctions in the lawsuit brought by the New York attorney-general. The defendants have all denied liability.
Eric Trump took the stand at about 11:45am after his older brother, Donald Jr, concluded his own testimony, which began on Wednesday. Their father, the former president, is scheduled to testify on Monday, followed by their sister Ivanka.
As he did the previous day, Donald Jr repeatedly directed responsibility for the financial statements to the company’s outside accountant, Mazars, and its former long-serving chief financial officer, Allen Weisselberg. Weisselberg served three months in jail after pleading guilty to tax evasion for arranging to receive luxury cars, school tuition payments and other unreported perks from the Trump Organization.
Donald Jr acknowledged signing several certifications for lenders on his father’s behalf, attesting — among other things — that the financial statements were accurate. But he did so with the assurance of other executives, he told the court. Displaying a breezy confidence, Donald Jr dismissed one of these documents as a “‘cover your butt’ letter”.
Eric Trump, centre, at the defence table, flanked by lawyers representing him and his family in the case © MICHAEL SANTIAGO/POOL/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock
In one curious moment, Donald Jr appeared to back the discredited accounting work performed by Weisselberg and others, saying: “I actually think things were materially correct.”
Like his brother, Eric Trump repeatedly told the court that he “did not recall” various documents presented by the prosecution. He presented himself as a busy executive dealing with multiple requests on a given day. He was emphatic that he had been unaware of his father’s statement of financial condition.
“I don’t think I ever saw or worked on the statement of financial condition,” he told Amer. At another point, he said: “I think I was 26 years old at the time. I don’t recall what I knew at the time.”
Their exchanges grew more tense as Amer presented a 2013 email from Jeffrey McConney, the Trump Organization’s former controller. “Hi Eric, I’m working on your dad’s annual financial statement,” McConney began, and then asked for assistance valuing a Westchester development under Eric Trump’s purview.
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A corresponding spreadsheet that McConney used to create the annual statement included a note by the Westchester entry indicating that it was based on a telephone call with Eric Trump.
In another email that month, addressed to Weisselberg and Eric Trump, McConney wrote: “I’m working on notes to Mr Trump’s annual financial statement and I’d like to include any major construction work” from the previous year.
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