Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump testified in the New York case against the family real estate business on Thursday, blaming accountants for the company’s allegedly falsified financial statements.
The former president’s two eldest sons were the first members of the Trump family to testify in the trial, in which the Trump Organization is accused of inflating the value of its assets by billions of dollars in order to gain better bank loan and insurance terms.
Don Jr. and Eric Trump are both executive vice presidents of the Trump Organization, a global conglomerate that manages residential complexes, office skyscrapers, luxury hotels, and golf courses.
Don Jr., 45, took the stand first, dressed like his brother in a dark blue suit and light blue tie with slicked back hair, and testified that while he signed off on financial statements, he depended on the knowledge of accountants for their correctness.
His testimony was followed by that of his younger brother Eric, 39, who struggled under questioning from Andrew Amer, a lawyer with the New York attorney general’s office, which initiated the case.
“I don’t think I ever saw or worked on a statement of financial condition,” Eric Trump said at the outset.
He was forced to retract his remark after Amer revealed an August 2013 email in which a colleague informed Eric Trump that he was “working on the notes to Mr. Trump’s annual financial statement” and inquired about the status of golf facilities.
“We’re a massive real estate organization,” Eric Trump said, his voice rising. “Certainly, we have financial statements.”
Eric Trump, like his brother, went on to declare that he relied on accounting companies to verify the accuracy in financial records provided to lenders and others.
Former President Trump is scheduled to testify on Monday, one day before the presidential election on November 5, 2024, which he thinks will sweep him back into the White House.
If the 77-year-old former president takes the stand, it will be the first time he has publicly testified in any of the several civil and criminal proceedings in which he is involved.
Ivanka Trump, the former president’s daughter, who left the Trump Organization in 2017 to become her father’s White House advisor, is not a co-defendant in the lawsuit but has been asked to testify. She has filed an appeal against the subpoena.