Eric Trump, one of the two sons trusted to run Donald Trump’s real estate empire, testified on Friday that he was not involved with the financial documents a judge has ruled to be fraudulent, in a trial that threatens to hobble his family’s business.
In a second day on the witness stand, the former US president’s second son said he relied on outside accountants and lawyers to check financial documents. His older brother Donald Trump Jr made the same argument in his testimony earlier this week.
Prosecutors presented evidence that showed Eric Trump had signed off on documents that estimated the value of trophy properties such as the Trump Seven Springs estate north of New York City and the Trump National Doral golf club in Florida.
That undercut his testimony on Thursday that he knew nothing about those estimates, which Judge Arthur Engoron found were fraudulently inflated to win favorable terms from lenders and insurers.
Eric Trump said he counted on others to ensure those estimates were accurate. “I rely on the accounting office, one of the biggest accounting firms in the country,” he said, referring to Whitley Penn, who the Trump Organization hired after the longtime Trump accounting firm Mazars dropped them as a client, saying that nearly a decade’s worth of Trump’s filings should “no longer be relied upon”.
Trump said he did not recall many of those interactions or was only involved with them peripherally while he oversaw other aspects of the sprawling business.
“I pick my phone up at five in the morning and I put it down at midnight. I have thousands of calls,” he said, with irritation, under questioning by state lawyer Andrew Amer.
Before Eric Trump’s testimony, his father’s lawyer Christopher Kise pressed Engoron to lift a limited gag order that has prevented the former president from publicly criticizing court staff. Trump has already been fined $15,000 for violating that order twice.
Kise threatened to ask for a mistrial because Engoron’s chief clerk allegedly engaged in political activity with Democratic officials. “We all need to take this very seriously, because the entire world is watching,” he said.
Another prosecutor asked Kise where he read the reports, and Kise said: “I want to say it’s Breitbart [a rightwing news site].” The comment garnered audible groans from the audience.
Engoron questioned the accuracy of those allegations. “It’s a shame we’ve descended to this level,” he said.
Because Engoron has already ruled that Trump and his company fraudulently inflated asset values, the trial is largely about what penalty they should face.
The New York attorney general, Letitia James, is pressing for penalties of up to $250m and a permanent ban on all three Trumps owning companies in their home state, among other restrictions.
Trump has denied wrongdoing and has accused James and Engoron of political bias in extensive comments online and in person.
Trump himself is due to testify on Monday, followed by his daughter Ivanka on Wednesday. She is not a defendant in the case.
The trial, which is expected to last until December, is one of several legal troubles confronting Trump as he campaigns to win back the White House.
He faces a total of 91 felony charges in four separate criminal cases, including two stemming from his attempts to overturn his 2020 election loss to Joe Biden.
Nevertheless, he holds a commanding lead over his rivals for the Republican presidential nomination.
Reuters contributed to this article
