Donald Trump Jnr returns to the stand as defence looks to undercut New York civil fraud claims

Donald Trump Jnr returned to the stand on Monday as defence lawyers started calling witnesses in the New York civil fraud trial that threatens his father’s real estate empire.

Donald Trump’s eldest son returned two weeks after state lawyers questioned him during a long stretch of the trial that also featured testimony from the former president and Donald Jnr’s siblings Eric and Ivanka.

“You thought you were rid of me, your honour,” he quipped as he took the stand.

Trump Jnr, a Trump Organisation executive vice-president, originally testified on November 1 and 2. He said he never worked on the annual financial statements at the heart of New York Attorney General Letitia James’ lawsuit. He said he relied on the company’s long-time finance chief and outside accountants to verify their accuracy.

James alleges that Donald Trump, his company and executives including his sons exaggerated his wealth by billions of dollars on financial statements given to banks, insurers and others. The documents were used to secure loans and make deals. James is seeking more than US$300 million in what she says were ill-gotten gains and a ban on defendants doing business in New York.

Before the trial, Judge Arthur Engoron ruled that the defendants committed fraud by inflating his net worth and the value of assets on his financial statements. He imposed a punishment that could strip Trump of marquee properties such as Trump Tower, though an appeal court is allowing the former president to remain in control for now.

The Trumps have denied wrongdoing. Their lawyers contend that the state failed to meet “any legal standard” to prove allegations of conspiracy, insurance fraud and falsifying business records. The state rested its case last Wednesday after six weeks of testimony from more than two dozen witnesses. Among them are company insiders, accountants, bank officials and Trump’s fixer-turned-foe Michael Cohen.

The trial is proceeding after Engoron rebuffed the defence’s request last week to end it early through what is known as a directed verdict. Engoron did not rule on the request, but indicated the trial would move ahead as scheduled.

Trump lawyer Christopher Kise, seeking a verdict clearing Trump and other defendants, argued last Thursday that the state’s case involved only “successful and profitable loan transactions” and that “there is no victim. There is no complainant. There is no injury.”

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After testifying in early November, Donald Trump Jnr echoed his father’s claims that the case was “purely a political persecution” brought by James, a Democrat, to blunt Trump’s chances as the front-runner for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination.

“I think it’s a truly scary precedent for New York – for me, for example, before even having a day in court, I’m apparently guilty of fraud for relying on my accountants to do, wait for it: accounting,” Trump Jnr told reporters on November 2.

On Monday, Trump Jnr was to be questioned first by the defence lawyers representing him, his father and other defendants. A state lawyer is also expected to question him on cross-examination. Trump Jnr is expected to testify on Monday and Tuesday, followed by a tax lawyer who also testified as a state witness.

The defence also plans to call several expert witnesses as part of their case in an attempt to refute testimony from state witnesses that Trump’s financial statements afforded him better loan terms and insurance premiums and were a factor in deal making.

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Trump gained over US$100 million through fraud, New York says as civil trial starts

Trump gained over US$100 million through fraud, New York says as civil trial starts

When he became president in 2017, Donald Trump handed day-to-day management of his company to Eric and Donald Trump Jnr and named Trump Jnr as a trustee of a trust he established to hold his assets while in office.

In Donald Trump Jnr’s prior testimony, when asked if he ever worked on his father’s “statement of financial condition,” the scion said: “Not that I recall.” Trump Jnr said he signed off on statements as a trustee, but left the work to outside accountants and the company’s then-finance chief and co-trustee, Allen Weisselberg.

“I had an obligation to listen to the people with intimate knowledge of those things,” Trump Jnr testified. “If they put something forward, I wasn’t working on the document, but if they tell me that it’s accurate, based on their accounting assessment of all of the materials. … These people had an incredible intimate knowledge, and I relied on it.”