Why is Donald Trump Jr. testifying again in his father’s civil fraud trial?

As the 45th President of the United States stands in court at the centre of a civil fraud case, a remarkable collection of words even for 2023, his sons and daughter also found themselves involved. Donald Trump Jr, Eric Trump and Ivanka Trump were all called to testify to the court in a New York legal case against their family’s real estate business.

On September 26, 2023, a judge ruled that the former President had misled banks and insurers, inflating his net worth and the value of assets belonging to the Trump Organization, a group of hundreds of business entities that include real estate, casinos, hotels and construction.

The case was rested after 20 witnesses were called, but on Monday, 12 November, Trump Jr will stand in court once again as defense lawyers called for new testimony from Trump’s eldest son and co-defendant.

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Why is Trump Jr back in court?

Judge Arthur Engoron decided in a partial summary judgment that the family did indeed used fraudulent documents to conduct business, and listed 10 examples of contradictions in Trump’s financial statements saying that it was impossible to have “a correct statement with these kinds of errors.” Donald Trump, Eric Trump and Donald Trump Jr. have all appealed Engoron’s ruling as well as labelling the case as politically motivated.

Now, Trump Jr is set to return to court in order to clarify outstanding issues from his previous testimony, including

Why was Donald Trump Jr testifying in the first place?

Both Donald Trump Jr and Eric Trump were on trial for involvement in the alleged fraudulent inflation. Ivanka Trump, on the other hand given her former high-level positions at the Trump company, was also accused of financially benefitting from the business and having knowledge of the supposed fraudulent activities.

Ivanka, who is not a defendant, initially tried to fight a subpoena but in the end she stood in court on November 8, saying she was not aware of the information: “those were not things that I was privy to,” apart from “a few documents and correspondence”.

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What did Trump Jr say in court?

As for Trump Jr, he admitted that he signed statements as a trustee but did not have any involvement: “As a trustee, I have an obligation to listen those who are expert — who have an expertise of these things,” he said. “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,” he said, “these people had an incredible intimate knowledge, and I relied on them.”

“And then, for the ninth time since 1986, came the turn of Donald Trump himself. It was a characteristically performative act from the former President, (who will run for the role again in 2024) with Judge Arthur Engoron, reminding him that “this is not a political rally” before being forced tell his lawyer Chris Kise to “control your client”. Trump mentioned a “witch hunt” and said that “the fraud is on the court, not on me.” Justice Engoron then barred Trump from making comments about his legal staff, an order that was violated on two separate occasions, leading to fines that amount to $15,000.