Donald Trump Jr.'s Surprising Court Testimony Could Sink His Father

Donald Trump Jr. delivered a "worse" testimony during the civil fraud trial than his brother Eric Trump and did little to fight the case aimed against his father, according to a legal expert.

The eldest son of the former president answered questions under oath on Wednesday and Thursday, followed by his younger brother Eric, as part of New York Attorney General Letitia James' lawsuit accusing Donald Trump, his two sons, and Trump Organization executives of filing fraudulent financial statements that inflated the value of several properties and assets for years. The Trumps deny all wrongdoing in connection to the civil trial.

During his testimony on Wednesday, Trump Jr. said he had no direct involvement in working on the financial statements cited in James' lawsuit as part of his role as executive vice president at The Trump Organization, and doing so was the job of accountants who worked at the real estate company. Trump Jr. also told the New York court he did sign off on paperwork, but was not involved in deciding the valuations in the financial statements which a judge has already ruled fraudulent.

Neama Rahmani, a former federal prosecutor and president of West Coast Trial Lawyers, said that Trump Jr. and Eric Trump "stuck to the script" by minimizing their roles at the company and blamed the family's accountants for the inflated valuations.

"Though that may have helped deflect blame from them and their father, their testimony didn't actually justify the overvaluations, so neither of them were effective witnesses for the defense," Rahmani told Newsweek.

"Donald Jr. signed off on the accuracy of the financials and he was the trustee of the family trust, so in many ways, Donald Jr.'s testimony was worse."

The Trump Organization has been contacted for comment via email.

Trump Jr. testified that he did sign off on financial statements which are cited in James' lawsuit, but the valuations were decided by those with "more intimate understanding of the specifics of those things," than he did.

Rahmani added that Trump Jr. was "surprisingly less combative" during his testimony than expected, and even joked with the courtroom sketch artist and engaged in lighthearted remarks with Judge Arthur Engoron, who is overseeing the civil trial.

In comparison, Rahmani said Eric Trump "lost his temper" during his Thursday testimony after being confronted with emails that contradicted his claim that he was not involved with the alleged fraudulent financial statements.

"We're a major organization, a massive real estate organization—yes, I'm fairly sure I understand that we have financial statements. Absolutely," Eric Trump, who is executive vice president at the family company alongside his brother, told the court. "I had no involvement and never worked on my father's statement of financial condition."

Reacting to Eric Trump's testimony, Rahmani added: "Eric was impeached with emails discussing the company's financial statements, but he seemed to be further removed than Donald Jr. and more focused on 'pouring concrete' than the company's financials."

The former president has long maintained that the civil trial is a politically motivated "witch hunt" that aims to hinder his chances of winning the 2024 election.

Trump has also called for the case to be thrown out following the testimony of his former lawyer Michael Cohen, who contradicted his previous testimony during cross-examination to state that the former president never directly instructed him to inflate the numbers of financial statements. Cohen added that Trump spoke like "a mob boss" and that the former president "tells you what he wants without specifically telling you."

Trump is scheduled to testify in the civil fraud trial on Monday, November 6, followed by his eldest daughter Ivanka Trump on November 8.

Engoron has already ruled that Trump had committed fraud by misrepresenting the value of his properties for years. The civil trial is now considering six remaining allegations in James' lawsuit, as well as the size of the penalty.

The former president faces being banned from doing business in New York state, having his properties removed from his control, or being forced to pay a fine totaling hundreds of millions of dollars.