Eric Trump on Friday lashed out at a $250 million civil fraud case against his family after testifying at a hearing in Manhattan – where he appeared in almost the same outfit two days in a row.
Trump, 39, testified for about four and a half hours spread over Thursday and Friday, when he appeared in Manhattan Supreme Court in what appeared to be the same navy suit, light blue tie, white shirt, brown oxford shoes and also the same clothes. light blue printed socks.
Outside the courtroom afterward, Trump blasted New York Attorney General Letitia James — who prosecuted the case — and the judge who decided it, echoing claims by his father, former President Donald Trump, that the trial was a political witch hunt.
“This is a huge farce that’s a waste of taxpayer money and that’s why everybody’s moving out of New York state, and I’m actually one of them,” Trump told reporters.
“It’s a joke, it’s an absolute joke,” he said, claiming James was using the case to boost his career.
The former eldest son is adamant about his innocence and is confident that his family will prevail in the trial.
Eric Trump denounced the fraud case against his family after he concluded testifying on Friday.Getty Images
“Guys, we’re going to win this thing,” Trump said. “I promise you we’ll win it because we didn’t do anything wrong.”
He told reporters that his father would “definitely” appear in court on Monday to testify.
“He was very excited to be here,” said the former president’s middle son. “He thought this was one of the most incredible injustices he had ever seen, and it really was.”
On Thursday, in a series of posts on Truth Social, Donald Trump, 77, blasted the judge, the AG and the case, accusing his son and co-defendants Eric and Don Jr. being “persecuted.”
Eric Trump filed a lawsuit against him, his father and his brother Don Jr. are “jokes” and “jokes”.AP
Eric Trump’s testimony followed about three hours of Don Jr.’s. were on the stand on Wednesday and Thursday and are expected to be followed by testimony from the former commander-in-chief on Monday and their sister Ivanka on Wednesday.
The two older Trump sons, their father and the family’s real estate company are all defendants in the AG’s lawsuit that accuses Donald of lying on annual financial statements for a decade, inflating his assets to the tune of billions a year for better loan terms and insurance.
Both Don Jr., 45, and Eric claimed under oath that they were not involved in their father’s annual financial statements. Although Don Jr. turning to jokes and deflections while being questioned by the Attorney General’s office, Eric took a more serious and sometimes aggressive tone with prosecutors.
Eric Trump testified for about four and a half hours on Thursday and Friday during tense questioning by the Attorney General’s office.REUTERS
“I’ve never had anything to do with a statement of financial condition,” Eric, an executive vice president at the Trump Organization, said on Thursday. “People ask me questions all the time but I’ve never worked on a statement of financial position.”
Likewise, Don Jr. on Wednesday said: “I was not involved in the preparation of this statement of financial condition.”
The Trump brothers both said they relied on accountants and lawyers to make sure that anything they signed was accurate, and Eric said he didn’t know what the statements were until the AG brought the case.
But AG Andrew Amer’s attorney spent a lot of time confronting Eric with emails and other evidence showing that he knew about financial statements as early as 2013 and helped formulate valuations for certain Trump Org properties.
Eric Trump appeared in court both days in almost identical attire, wearing a navy suit, white shirt, light blue tie, brown oxfords and light blue socks that looked the same on both days.Getty Images
On Thursday night, an appeals court judge rejected Ivanka Trump’s bid to withdraw from testifying next Wednesday.
Ivanka earlier this year was dismissed from the case by an appeals court that found any involvement she had in the alleged fraud was beyond the statute of limitations. But New York Supreme Court Justice Arthur Engoron said his testimony was still relevant and ruled that he must testify in person.
Both before and after Eric’s testimony on Friday, Trump attorney Christopher Kise claimed the judge was biased against his client and said he was concerned that there were supposedly two people deciding the case — the judge and his court clerk.
Kise said he was considering seeking a mistrial on allegations of bias, claiming he was disturbed by the fact that Engoron received notes throughout the trial from his law clerk. He also claimed that news reports appeared about “partisan political contributions made by certain members of your staff.”
The former eldest son’s testimony came after the testimony of his brother Don Jr. and comes before testimony expected by his father and sister next week.REUTERS
When Engoron asked where the report came from, Kise said, “I think it’s on Breitbart” — prompting gasps from the courtroom.
But Engoron eventually told Kise – who had also raised the issue of bias on Thursday evening – to stop talking about it in court and make a motion.
“I said, on the record, I will continue to receive notes from my staff,” Engoron replied. “If you want to make a motion at this point, go ahead and do it.”
Kevin Wallace, an attorney at the Attorney General’s Office, said so, agreeing that Kise should simply file a motion on the issue rather than continue to raise it at trial.
“This sideshow talking about clerks is designed to interfere with our ability to put evidence,” Wallace said. “If there is anything improper about the judge and the clerk approving the note, you should make your motion now.”
On Thursday evening, Engoron became furious when Kise brought up the topic, slamming his hand on the bench and yelling, “Confidential communication from my clerk? You have no right to see or question it.”
Engoron warned that he would expand the limited gag order that prevents Trump from speaking publicly about his court staff to include Trump’s lawyers if they talk about law clerks again.
Earlier in the hearing, Trump posted a photo on Truth Social of the clerk with Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), unsubstantiatedly saying she was “Schumer’s girlfriend” and adding that she was “running this case against me.”
Afterward, Engoron issued a limited gag order preventing Trump from speaking publicly about any of his court staff.
A judge has since ruled that Trump has violated the order twice, fining him a total of $15,000.
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
