Trump Jr distances himself from Trump Organization’s finances

On Wednesday, the eldest son of Donald Trump testified in court as part of a civil lawsuit that New York Attorney General Letitia James filed against the Trump Organisation and other Trump family members.

Here you have the details of the news.

Trump Jr distances himself from Trump Organization’s finances

The foundation of the attorney general’s lawsuit is the Trump Organization’s statements of financial condition, which list the value of its various assets provided to banks and insurers to secure loans and deals.

The Donald Trump Civil Fraud lawsuit alleges that the Trump Organisation fabricated these statements to obtain better insurance coverage and lower taxes.

Following their father’s inauguration as President in January 2017, Donald Jr. and Eric assumed more responsibilities at the family company, the Trump Organisation. The majority of the company’s assets were controlled by the Donald J. Trump Revocable Trust, of whom Donald Jr. was a trustee.

The two adult sons of former President Trump can now be seen disassociating themselves from the Trump Organisation financial statements central to the New York attorney general’s lawsuit against their family firm on Thursday in back-to-back testimony.

Eric Trump and Donald Trump Jr. denied having any hand in their father’s financial accounts, claiming instead that they depended on accountants and other professionals to ensure the accuracy of the figures.

In his testimony on Wednesday, Donald Trump Jr., the eldest son of the President, stated that he approved of his father’s financial statements in his capacity as executive vice president of the Trump Organisation and trustee of the trust that contained the President’s assets.

He did, however, state that he trusted the work of executives and accountants, including Chief Financial Officer Allen Weisselberg at the time, to be accurate.

According to The Associated Press, Donald Trump Jr. stated, “As a trustee, I have an obligation to listen [to] those who are expert — who have an expertise of these things.”

The second son of the former President, Eric Trump, testified that he “never had anything to do with the statement of financial condition” and denied any involvement.

According to The Associated Press, State attorney Andrew Amer subsequently brought up an email Eric Trump had in 2013 from another company executive requesting details to fill out Trump’s financial statement.

“So you did know about your father’s annual financial statement as of August 2013?” Amer queried.

Eric Trump remarked, “It appears that way.”

Thus far, Trump’s legal team has tried to place the accountants who computed the statements’ inflated figures at fault rather than the former President and his family.

During the beginning week of the trial, Donald Bender, the former Trump accountant, gave testimony under cross-examination. Trump’s attorneys attempted to paint Bender as careless.

Before the trial had started, Engoron determined that the New York attorney general’s office had established the key elements of its case, which made Trump, the Trump Organisation, and Trump’s sons liable for fraud.

The ruling revoked several of Trump’s company licences and endangered some of his well-known properties; however, an appeals court postponed the business licence cancellation until after it hears his case.

The trial will set the amount of money the defendants must pay as a penalty and may also show which defendant was more responsible for the deception than the others.