Ava-joye Burnett
Donald Trump Jr. testifies for 2nd day in father's fraud trial
The oldest son of the former president testified he relied on an accounting team to tell him whether financial documents were accurate.
LEARN MOREPosted: 1:46 p.m. EDT Nov 3, 2023
Eric Trump, a key figure in the Trump Organization, is scheduled to resume his testimony in the ongoing civil fraud trial on Monday.
The trial alleges that his father, former President Donald Trump, inflated his wealth and asset values to mislead banks and insurance companies.
On Friday, New York Attorney General Letitia James accused the 45th president and his sons of defrauding banks and insurers in a $250 million lawsuit.
The judge in the case already ruled that the Trumps committed fraud; the trial will determine the penalties, with significant implications for the future of Trump's business operations in New York.
Friday marked Eric Trump's second day of testimony, and he mentioned that even though he was a trustee and an executive vice president in the company, he didn't have all of the details about the finances of the Trump Organization and was not involved with the financial statements that are now part of the case.
On Friday Judge Arthur Engoron expanded a gag order that initially applied to the parties in the case, forbidding them from speaking publicly about court staffers.
Engoron ordered attorneys for the Trump organization not to comment on "confidential communications" that the judge had with his staff.
The order comes after those attorneys repeated claims that a court clerk in the case was improperly influencing the proceedings.
Earlier in the week, Donald Trump circulated a post on social media disparaging law clerk Allison Greenfield, prompting the initial order.
After court adjourned on Friday, Eric Trump addressed the media outside the courtroom, praising the company's achievements and criticizing the trial as a "witch hunt" driven by "political" motives.
"We have a better company than they could have ever imagined, and this is a big charade. That's a huge waste of taxpayer money and is the very reason everybody's moving out of New York state," Eric Trump said. "We run some of the most significant buildings ... so many other great properties, and the witch hunt that this woman [Letitia James] is under, the witch hunt that this person is under to get my father for political purposes, it's disgusting."
The former president took to social media to defend his kids, saying that it's “So sad to see my sons being PERSECUTED in a political Witch Hunt by this out of control, publicity seeking, New York State Judge, on a case that should have NEVER been brought."
The former president is scheduled to testify on Monday as well, in which Eric Trump notes that his father is "fired up" to appear in court and that "he thinks that this is one of the most incredible injustices that he's ever seen."
It's important to note that this civil lawsuit is separate from the four criminal cases the former president is currently facing while campaigning for a potential return to the White House in 2024.
