Former President Donald Trump appeared on the stand Monday for questioning in the fraud case brought by New York state Attorney General Letitia James alleging a years-long pattern of misconduct at the Trump family business — and things were rocky! Besides the repeated confrontations involving Judge Arthur Engoron, the Trump defense team, and the ex-president himself over the rambling nature of Trump’s responses, the former president also made potentially condemning admissions.
Though like other, past commentary from the ex-president, he delivered these remarks with caveats galore, Trump at one point reportedly admitted to “maybe” having a role in orchestrating the valuations that appeared on financial statements allegedly containing far-reaching deception. “Trump has now testified that he reviewed his statements of financial condition, and “maybe, on occasion, suggest decisions,” before they were finalized,” legal analyst Lisa Rubin said on X (Twitter) Monday. The attorney general’s team subsequently referred to a disputed 2014 financial statement that itself credits responsibility for its contents to Trump.
The gist of James’ case against Trump, certain family members of his, and others is an allegation that deception about the true value of various assets set up the Trump businesses for huge, unearned financial boosts. An expert witness pinned the Trump Organization’s savings on interest in connection to just four properties at $168 million because the involved financial institutions used interest rates lower than what the state says would have more accurately reflected Trump’s finances.
Discussing those financial attestations in which Trump himself was self-evidently involved per the included documentation, James’ team pressed Trump on the process. He claimed that he didn’t “really” give key executives at his company specific directions for sharing financial details with an outside accounting firm working with the Trumps… though Trump also credited himself as a final authority. “I think I was certainly more expert than anyone else, so if somebody would ask me or if I had an opinion, I would give it,” Trump said on the stand regarding the subject of establishing claims of value for his assets.
