Donald Trump Jr gave evidence on Wednesday at the civil fraud trial over whether his father overstated his wealth to banks and insurers, a case that threatens former US president Donald Trump’s property empire.
The first family member to give evidence, Donald Trump Jr greeted the scene with a quip: “I should have worn makeup,” he jested as news photographers took his photo.
He was collected and seemed at ease as a lawyer for New York state asked him a series of questions about his education and career at the family business, the Trump Organisation.
He made some lighthearted asides, for instance, when asked whether he belonged to an accountants’ organisation, he replied: “Sounds very exciting, but no.”
But the Trump Organisation executive vice president took serious care to establish that he is not an accountant or an expert on accounting standards that have been mentioned in the case.
The case centres on whether the former president and his business misled banks and insurers by inflating his net worth on financial statements.
“I rely on professionals and CPAs” on certain matters, Mr Trump Jr said.
Asked whether he had ever worked on his father’s “statement of financial condition” in any year, he said: “Not that I recall.”
“I had an obligation to listen to the people with intimate knowledge of those things,” he said.
“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.”
The Trumps deny wrongdoing and are fighting to keep the business intact.
The ex-president’s eldest son is kicking off a blockbuster stretch as the trial in New York attorney general Letitia James’ lawsuit enters its second month.
Ms James, a Democrat, alleges that Donald Trump, his company and top executives, including sons Eric Trump and Donald Trump Jr, conspired to exaggerate his wealth by billions of dollars on his financial statements that were given to banks, insurers and others to secure loans and make deals.
Eric Trump is expected to give evidence next.
Then the former president, family patriarch and 2024 Republican front-runner is expected on Monday.
State lawyers had expected to call his eldest daughter, ex-Trump Organisation executive and White House adviser Ivanka Trump, as their final witness on November 8.
On Wednesday her lawyer filed an appeal challenging a judge’s decision to require her evidence.
Donald Trump Jr and Eric Trump are both executive vice presidents at the Trump Organisation and defendants in Ms James’ lawsuit.
Eric Trump has oversight over the company’s operations, while his brother has been involved in running the company’s property development.
He and longtime company finance chief Allen Weisselberg were also trustees of the revocable trust Mr Trump set up to hold the company’s assets when he became president.
Before the trial, Judge Arthur Engoron ruled that Mr Trump’s financial statements were fraudulent.
He ordered that a court-appointed receiver seize control of some of his companies, potentially stripping him and his family of such properties as Trump Tower, though an appeals court has halted enforcement for now.
Like their father, both brothers have denied wrongdoing.
Eric Trump has spent several days at the trial, often on the days his father has been there. He has commented sporadically, mostly on social media.
On October 5, he posted a video montage to Truth Social of Ms James criticising his father. With it, he wrote “this is the corruption my father and our family is fighting! The system is weaponized, broken and disgusting!”
Donald Trump Jr had not been to court before Wednesday, but has repeatedly denounced the case and Judge Engoron as a “kangaroo court.”
State law does not allow for juries in this type of case, so Judge Engoron will decide.
Donald Trump blasted Judge Engoron on Wednesday on Truth Social as a Trump-hating “political hack” who is “doing the dirty work for the Democrat Party”.
“Leave my children alone, Engoron. You are a disgrace to the legal profession!” Trump wrote in one of several posts.
Donald Trump attended the trial’s first three days in early October and showed up again for four days in the past two weeks, but his campaign schedule suggests it is unlikely he will return to see his sons give evidence.
In his past appearances, Mr Trump complained to TV cameras outside court, calling the case a “sham”, a “scam”, and “a continuation of the single greatest witch hunt of all time”.
He also angered the judge twice, incurring fines for violating a limited gag order with comments about a member of the court staff.
