Donald Trump Jr. could face a criminal case after admitting that he didn’t know about the Trump Organization’s accounts, a legal expert has said.
Donald Jr. testified at the New York fraud trial against the Trump Organization, in which he denied knowing about the widespread accounting fraud that inflated the Trump Organization’s property valuations, saying, “That’s what CPAs are for.”
Former federal prosecutor Elie Honig said Donald Trump Jr. could now face a criminal investigation.
“What I think is literally very important to point out about Donald Trump Jr. ‘s testimony is that he did not claim that those tests were accurate, that they were legitimate,” he said. Honig said. Instead. . . He tried to argue, ‘I didn’t know them literally, I wasn’t part of them. ‘He tried to distance himself from genuine valuations,” Honig told CNN’s Wolf Blitzer on Wednesday.
Honig added that there is “definitely a risk” for Donald Trump Jr. to testify instead of arguing the Fifth Amendment.
“Donald Trump Jr. would have had the option to pass the Fifth Amendment,” Honig said. “This is a civil matter, but you can still say: I refuse to testify because my testimony can be used against me. He won’t, so now anything he testifies is a legitimate target for prosecutors to consider. “
Honig said prosecutors “have reviewed this case” and “have so far decided to qualify it as a felon case, but that could change depending on Donald Trump Jr. ‘s testimony. “
New York Attorney General Letitia James is suing former President Donald Trump and the Trump Organization for $250 million, accusing them of inflating their net worth by billions of dollars to obtain benefits such as better bank loans and reduced tax bills. Trump maintains his innocence in the case and has accused prosecutors of targeting him for political purposes.
James compelled testimony from Trump’s three eldest children in the business fraud lawsuit. Trump Jr., who has served as an executive vice president of The Trump Organization after joining in 2001, was the first of the former president’s children to testify in the civil trial.
During his testimony, Trump Jr. insisted that he did not forget the answer to more than one question related to his father and the family business. When asked if he had worked on his father’s monetary disclosure – a central document in the fraud case – he replied: “No, if I don’t forget. “
Trump Jr. was also uncertain about the timeline of events concerning the Donald J. Trump Revocable Trust, which holds the former president’s assets. He claimed to have no memory of a brief period in 2021 when he was removed, then restored as a trustee.
Prosecutors responded by producing a 2014 document that made it appear that Trump Jr. , his father and former Trump Organization CFO Allen Weisselberg were indexed as trustees and by the content of financial statements.
When asked directly if his father was still a director, Trump Jr. replied, “I don’t remember. “He also said he “didn’t understand” accounting practices and relied heavily on the company’s accountants in his business.
Trump Jr. will continue his testimony on Thursday. Eric Trump will testify at the trial on Thursday and Ivanka Trump next week.
In addition to the trial in New York and other civil cases, the former president faces 91 counts in 4 felon indictments. He has pleaded guilty to all charges and claims that all of his legal troubles boil down to “election interference” as he campaigns for the 2024 presidential election.
Newsweek sought comment from Donald Trump Sr. and Donald Trump Jr.
Sean O’Driscoll is a senior crime and court reporter for Newsweek founded in Ireland. Its purpose is to inform about American law. He has covered human rights and extremism extensively. Sean joined Newsweek in 2023 and in the past has worked for The Guardian, The New York Times, BBC, Vice, and others in the Middle East. He specialized in human rights issues in the Persian Gulf and led a three-month investigation into labor rights violations for the New York Times. In the past it was founded in New York for 10 years. He is a graduate of Dublin City University and is a qualified lawyer in New York and an Irish notary.
You can get in touch with Sean by emailing [email protected]. Languages: English and French.