His younger brother, Eric, who now runs the Trump Organization, was more precise in his answers but more combative in his tone.
Credit: New York Times
Eric and Donald Trump Jr. stepped out of their father’s shadow and into a legal minefield Thursday as they testified in a trial that threatens their family business.
Donald Trump Jr. was mostly calm but often evasive as he blamed outside accountants for any errors in company financial statements during nearly two hours on the stand. The documents are at the heart of the civil case in State Supreme Court in Manhattan that accuses the brothers, their father and the firm of defrauding banks and insurers.
His younger brother, Eric, who now runs the Trump Organization, was more precise in his answers but more combative in his tone. He acknowledged his central role within the company but denied direct involvement with the documents.
Donald Trump’s sons were summoned to the stand by the office of Attorney General Letitia James, which sued the Trumps and the Trump Organization, accusing them of overvaluing the former president’s assets to obtain favorable loans and other benefits.
If Donald Trump, his sons and company are found liable, they might have to pay a $250 million fine and could be permanently barred from running a business in New York.
During Thursday’s testimony, James’ office homed in on Eric and Donald Trump Jr.’s role in their father’s annual financial statements, which assigned values to his key properties. Donald Trump Jr. each year signed letters attesting to their accuracy, and the attorney general has argued that Eric Trump influenced some of the values contained in them.
Colleen Faherty, a lawyer with the attorney general’s office, elicited several pieces of useful testimony from Donald Trump Jr. about the statements. He acknowledged that he had expected the company’s biggest lender, Deutsche Bank, to rely on the accuracy of the financial statements.
Faherty also confronted Donald Trump Jr. with an email exchange showing that Forbes Magazine had alerted him to errors in statements that had been submitted to banks and insurance companies.
Shortly after learning of Forbes’ concerns about the documents, he nonetheless told his outside accounting firm, Mazars USA, that they contained no material misstatements.
Donald Trump Jr. dismissed the letter to Mazars as a “cover your butt” communication — and sought to pin any faulty valuations on the accounting firm.
Eric Trump also pointed at Mazars. “I never worked on the statement of financial condition,” he said.