Donald Trump Jr. testimony: former president's son says he doesn't recall work on documents
New York ? Donald Trump Jr. took the witness stand Wednesday in his father's real estate fraud trial, becoming the first of the former president's children to testify in a case in which $250 million in damages and a New York ban on the iconic Trump Organization is at stake.
The oldest child of former President Donald Trump said he didn't recall whether he worked on financial statements concerning his father's assets and liabilities. In its fraud case brought against several members of the Trump family as well as the Trump Organization, the New York Attorney General's Office has described the statements from 2011 to 2021 as "fraudulent and misleading," and said they included a "staggering" number of highly-inflated asset valuations.
Don Jr. described himself as the "point person" on getting many Trump hotel management deals done between 2011 and 2020. He said he played a key role in licensing deals that allow third parties to use the Trump name. However, when it came to various accounting issues, he said he relied on the expertise of others.
Eric Trump is also expected to testify this week, followed by his father and Ivanka Trump next week. Testimony from the family could impact the penalties the judge in the case, Arthur Engoron, orders.
Engoron ruled in late September that the former president defrauded banks and insurers by inflating the value of his assets and exaggerating his net worth in paperwork he used to make deals and get financing. The oldest child oversees the Trump Organization's portfolio of properties and is responsible for commercial leasing for Trump Tower and other properties, according to the state's lawsuit.
NY AG: Don Jr. has 'long been involved'
Don Jr. didn't take the witness stand until the afternoon, and his testimony will continue on Thursday.
During the early part of the testimony, New York Attorney General Letitia James said on the X social media site that "Donald Trump Jr. started testifying in our trial against him, Donald Trump, and the Trump Organization. Trump Jr. has long been involved in his family’s fraudulent business operations."
James's office has asked the judge to order the defendants to forfeit all the financial benefits they received from the alleged fraudulent scheme, which it estimated to be about $250 million, and to bar Trump family members from high-up positions in a New York corporation.
An appeals court already tossed out the case against Ivanka Trump, ruling that too much time had passed since her involvement in the Trump Organization. Engoron nonetheless said she must testify pursuant to a state subpoena.
The former president wasn't in the courtroom Wednesday, although he has voluntarily attended several previous days of the trial: Trump was traveling to Texas on Wednesday. He has a campaign event Thursday at an offshore oil and gas drilling company in Houston.
That didn't keep him from attacking the judge over his family's testimony. At the end of a message posted at 2:28 a.m., eastern time, Trump wrote: "Leave my children alone, Engoron. You are a disgrace to the legal profession!"
Engoron has fined Trump $15,000 for violating a limited gag order that applies to attacks on court staff. The order doesn't explicitly protect the judge himself.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Donald Trump Jr. testifies in Trump fraud trial in New York
