New York state Attorney General Letitia James is continuing her expansive fraud case against the Trumps, which alleges a years-long pattern of deception that set up the family business to benefit massively from perks like more favorable terms on loans. An expert witness for the state estimated that financial institutions lost out on some $168 million in income from interest associated with just four Trump properties!
And on the stand this week, the ex-president’s son Eric Trump answered questions, continuing to try and distance himself from the substance of cornerstone business developments that have driven this whole dispute.
“However, his emails and other evidence showed that he was intimately involved in financial decisions related to properties like Seven Springs and Mar-a-Lago,” James said. “And we know that those same properties were grossly overvalued on Trump’s statements of financial condition for years. Eric Trump also signed multiple loan certifications to banks on behalf of his father.” James described these certifications provided by the ex-president’s son as essentially entailing support for the statements of financial condition that James has scrutinized as allegedly profoundly misrepresenting their actual financial realities.
She relayed all of these explanations in a video message. James has been sharing video recaps of portions of the trial as it has proceeded across the preceding several weeks. Donald Trump Jr. also faced questioning this week, and he too has been dismissive, having claimed on the stand he was not substantially involved with the statements of financial condition that have spurred the case. He also claimed a lack of basic knowledge around key accounting principles, pointing instead to an accountant — Donald Bender — who has worked with the family.
Going forward, Donald Trump himself will soon go on the stand. Ivanka Trump, who was originally named in the case but removed on statute of limitations concerns, will also soon face questioning. A New York appeals court recently rejected her push for a swift delay to her imminent trial appearance.
Eric Trump has been a senior executive at the Trump Organization for over a decade.
In all that time, he denies having any involvement in Donald Trump’s fraudulent statements of financial condition.
The evidence shows otherwise.⤵️ pic.twitter.com/Bb0M3Xlhap
— NY AG James (@NewYorkStateAG) November 3, 2023
