One of the Trump Organization's executive vice presidents and former President Donald Trump's son, Donald Trump Jr., took the stand in the fraud case in New York on Wednesday afternoon.
It was the first time Trump Jr. had stepped foot in the courtroom, though his brother Eric has been present for much of the proceedings and has been largely polite to others present, even shaking hands with Attorney General Letitia James who brought the lawsuit against his family's business, said MSNBC's senior legal correspondent, Laura Jarrett.
Trump Jr. can take the Fifth Amendment in the trial, though experts have said what is expected to be heard is a lot of "I don't recall" and "I don't know," and claims that he didn't have any experience in the day-to-day operations of the Trump Org. That echoes what he said in his deposition.
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The testimony began with a group of photographers rushing in and taking shots.
"I should have worn makeup," said Trump Jr.
He was first asked who his employer was, and he seemed uncertain. "I believe it’s still Trump Payroll Corp," he said.
When asked about his experience, Don Jr. claimed that he doesn't know much about accounting, "that's what CPAs are for." He went on to say that he and other executives paid such financial experts so that they would handle such things.
The judge didn't like the comment, saying it was non-responsive. It's an indication of how the testimony will likely unfold, said MSNBC's Lisa Rubin in a legal analysis.
She continued, telling Katy Tur that Trump Jr. admitted "on the stand, clearly, openly, almost proudly, that he doesn't know anything about GAAP or other accounting standards or the accounting standards board that sets those rules. He's basically saying I have nothing to offer in that respect because I relied on my lawyers and accountants to do that work for me. I paid them millions of dollars."
She said that the judge saying it was nonresponsive left the attorney general "a little bit peeved."
“I did a little bit of everything, everything from design, sales and marketing, finance, construction, you name it," Don Jr. continued. After his father became president, he said he, Eric and CFO Allen Weisselberg took over the company.
Rubin noticed an odd comment from Trump Jr., in which he "described himself as on equal footing with his siblings until that time" in 2017, when they took over. He said they reported to their father.
Occasionally, Jr. fidgeted his thumbs and shifted his body, appearing to sit up taller. His suit was reportedly "very blue," Law360's Stewart Bishop, said.
He went on to say that he wasn't the one who fired Weisselberg and didn't know if it fell to his brother to do. Trump's lawyer objected to the questioning, and the judge agreed, telling prosecutors to move it along.
Weisselbeg was chairman of the Donald J. Trump Revocable Trust until he was indicted on tax fraud charges and was ultimately sentenced to five months in prison. At that point, he stepped down, and Don. Jr. was the only one in charge. That was the entity that Trump said he funneling all his money into so as to be overseen by his heirs.
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Trump claimed it would remove all possibility of impropriety, but Bishop pointed out that the claim is debatable.
As Rubin pointed out, "the ultimate authority post-Trump inauguration was held by Eric, Weisselberg, and Trump, Jr. Weisselberg wasn't there after “some legal trouble he got himself into."
See Rubin's comments below or at the link here.
Donald Trump Jr. tries to blame the staff: 'That's what CPAs are for' www.youtube.com
