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Donald Trump Jr., the eldest son of the former president, took the stand in the civil lawsuit accusing his family and the Trump Organization of fraudulently inflating the company's assets, offering reserved but "damning" testimony to state prosecutors.
Trump Jr. testified before the court on Wednesday and Thursday, answering questions from New York Attorney General Letitia James' team and pointing fingers at other company executives for the financial calculations, saying he had no understanding of accounting standards.
Although his time on the witness stand was "mostly pleasant and dull," legal analyst Lisa Rubin said his back and forth with prosecutors was "no less damning."
"Not all important testimony comes with fireworks," Rubin said in a Thursday post on X, formerly Twitter. "I cannot overstate how damaging these admissions are for Trump Jr., as pleasant and relatively yawn-inducing as this review of financial documents sounds."
Rubin called it stunning that Trump Jr. revealed that even after James' investigation was underway, he signed a letter assuring new accountants that the Trump Organization was providing accurate data without discussing any of the data that he was referring to with his previous accounting team.
Former federal prosecutor and elected state attorney Michael McAuliffe agreed that Trump Jr.'s testimony could show the court how Trump Jr. may have failed to fulfill his role as the executive vice president of the company.
"As the senior executive, he was the person who signed the financial statements," McAuliffe told Newsweek. "A reason exists why the person in charge signs––that is to have an individual take responsibility for them, not the folks who merely helped in the preparation. As such, the abdication of responsibility likely isn't enough to wash one's hands regarding the accuracy of the representations in the financials."
He said Trump Jr.'s deflection and testimony said that he wasn't directly involved in financial matters may not work to his benefit since the state has produced evidence painting a different picture from what he said on the stand.
"Other evidence introduced by the State shows that the family members were very involved in the discussions of value and the businesses were/are run by a very small group," McAuliffe said, adding that because the trial is being decided by a judge and not a jury, it's likely Trump Jr.'s testimony will be met with more scrutiny.
Former federal prosecutor Neama Rahmani said that while the testimony "wasn't particularly earth-shattering," Trump Jr. revealed something interesting about his father's state of mind.
"The most interesting part of this testimony had nothing to do with the case, but his admission that Donald Trump became trustee of the family trust again on January 15, 2021," Rahmani said. "That's evidence that Donald Trump knew he lost the election, at least as of that date."
The former president has repeatedly claimed that the 2020 presidential election was rigged against him and that Joe Biden did not win.
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About the writer
Katherine Fung is a Newsweek senior reporter based in New York City. She has covered U.S. politics and culture extensively. ... Read more