Donald Trump Jr. is set to be questioned under oath again at trial this week in the long-running case from New York state Attorney General Letitia James accusing the Trump family of years of business fraud. The alleged fraud turns on allegedly falsified valuations for various Trump assets in key financial statements.
Donald Jr. already appeared for questioning by the state, and this week, he’ll be among the very first called by the defense as they begin their presentation. Besides the persistent expectation of truthfulness, violations of which are punishable by serious penalties, Donald Jr. will also be subject to potential, additional trial questioning by the state, which will be able to conduct cross-examination should James’ team choose that path.
In his earlier appearance in court, Donald Jr. was largely dismissive of the state’s allegations. The trial proceedings are not available for the general public to watch, but various media reports have said he denied possessing basic knowledge related to key facets of accounting, and he reportedly denied substantial involvement in disputed statements of financial condition, which are some of the materials where the allegedly deceptive valuations were found.
In various contexts, the Trump team even ran for some time with a claimed size of the ex-president’s personal residence at Trump Tower in Manhattan that was three times its actual square footage — an extreme overstatement!
Donald Trump himself has also appeared on the stand for questioning, having predictably turned while under oath to his characteristic antagonism. He maligned the judge, James, and her team — again. He also admitted a general intent with some of these financial documents to get loans, though — potentially showcasing the scheme that James contends was seen. And he also admitted, though sometimes including caveats, to a direct and personal role in the preparation of financial statements. In a notable moment, he also reportedly tried to distance himself from the 2021 statements by beginning to discuss the presidency… from which he departed, of course, very early that year.
