Eric Trump At Court In $250 Million Civil Fraud Trial
By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent
NEW YORK (Worthy News) – The second eldest son of former U.S. President Donald J. Trump arrived in court for another day, where he denied wrongdoing in a $250 million civil fraud case that he says is politically motivated.
Eric Trump testified that he believed the financial statements he certified were accurate, but that view was based on what lawyers and accountants told him.
He spoke as lawyers for the ex-president, his sons, and their company again pressed allegations that Judge Arthur Engoron was improperly influenced by his principal law clerk. Engoron vehemently denied the claims and, as he had a day earlier, told the attorneys not to broach the matter again.
Donald J. Trump was scheduled to testify Monday in the case, which comes as he leads Republican 2024 presidential hopefuls and fights four separate criminal cases.
On Friday, while his son was in court, Donald J. Trump fought for attention in Houston, where he referred to those jailed following the January 6, 2021, Capitol Building riot defendants as “hostages.”
His speech, delivered at the headquarters of a company that makes equipment for offshore drilling, touched on a range of issues, including his claims that the army is being forced to make all its tanks and other vehicles run on electricity.
His opponents argue that there are no such plans and that the United States maintains its military capabilities.
COURT CASE
Back in a New York court, son Eric tried to should his father and himself from New York Attorney General Letitia James, accusing him, his company, and executives of deceiving banks and insurers. They allegedly exaggerated Trump’s wealth on his annual financial statements.
Trump and the other defendants, including sons Eric Trump and Donald Trump Jr., deny the allegations. “We’re going to win this thing. I promise you we’re going to win it because we haven’t done a damn thing wrong,” Eric Trump said outside court.
He and his older brother are executive vice presidents of the family’s Trump Organization, and they became trustees of a trust set up to run the company when their father went to the White House.
The sons signed, for example, yearly letters that certified their father’s financial wherewithal to lender Deutsche Bank. Eric Trump said he trusted company finance executives and an outside accounting firm to ensure the information was correct.
“I would not sign something that was inaccurate,” he said Friday, his second day on the stand. “I relied on one of the biggest accounting firms in the country. And I relied on a great legal team. And when they comforted me that the statement was perfect, I was more than happy to execute.”
He testified that he didn’t dig into the details of his father’s “statement of financial condition.” James’ office says the documents contained grossly inflated asset values ranging from Trump Tower in New York to the Mar-a-Lago club in Palm Beach, Florida.
With his testimony wrapped up, all media eyes are now focused on Donald J. Trump, who has used this civil and other criminal trials in his campaign to become president again.
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