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Donald Trump's former attorney and fixer Michael Cohen called Eric Trump "stupid" on Saturday for walking into the prosecution's trap during his father's New York civil fraud case.
The trial stems from a $250 million lawsuit that New York Attorney General Letitia James filed last year, alleging that Trump and top executives at his family company, The Trump Organization, conspired to increase his net worth by billions of dollars on financial statements provided to banks and insurers to make deals and secure loans. Trump, who is campaigning for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination and is the current frontrunner, has denied any wrongdoing and has called the trial politically motivated. Eric and Donald Trump Jr., senior executives of The Trump Organization, are also accused in the lawsuit of assisting the former president.
Donald Jr. and Eric took the stand this past week, claiming that they were out of the loop when it came to the company's financials. On Wednesday, Donald Jr. denied knowing about widespread accounting fraud within the company that inflated its property valuation, saying, "That's what CPAs are for."
During Eric's testimony on Thursday, he insisted that he "never had anything to do with the statements of financial condition" produced by The Trump Organization. Prosecutors then presented emails and other evidence that showed Eric discussed the statements of financial condition with other senior Trump Organization figures.
Newsweek reached out to Trump's lawyers representing him in the fraud case, Christopher Kise and Alina Habba, for comment.
Cohen who previously testified against Trump in the civil fraud case appeared on MSNBC's Velshi on Saturday and said that Trump's eldest sons "lied under oath."
He added that Trump's estranged niece, Mary Trump, was "spot on" when she wrote earlier this week on X, formerly Twitter, that Eric "basically just lost the entire case" when testifying.
Speaking about the former president, Cohen told host Ali Velshi, "I mean, the guy lies the way that you breathe, and the kids are doing the same thing—how stupid do they have to be?
"It is sad to stay, how stupid do you have to be when you are Eric Trump, for example, executive vice president of the Trump Organization, and you claim all you really do is, you know, you pour concrete?" Cohen asked. "Let me be very clear: Eric has never poured concrete in this life. He wouldn't know how to pour quicksand by adding water to it."
He was referring to Eric repeatedly saying on the stand: "I pour concrete. I operate properties. I don't focus on appraisals," when asked about his involvement in his father's financial statements.
Cohen also claimed that Donald Jr. and Eric knew more than they are letting on.
"And Don Jr. claims that he was just a broker. They were not just brokers, Eric did not pour concrete. They were in charge of running the company while their father was president, under the control of Allen Weisselberg, who is the trustee plain and simple," Cohen said.
He added: "And the emails! Did they not think that the government had the emails? Did they not think they were going to show it to them? They think this is some sort of a joke?"
Newsweek reached out to Cohen's team via email for comment.
Trump's eldest daughter, Ivanka Trump, who previously served as an executive vice president of The Trump Organization, was initially listed as a defendant in the civil fraud case, but is now set to testify next week.
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About the writer
Rachel Dobkin is a Newsweek reporter based in New York. Her focus is reporting on politics. Rachel joined Newsweek in ... Read more