Donald Trump Jr., Eric Trump Testify in Father's Civil Fraud Trial

Donald Trump Jr., Eric Trump Testify in Father's Civil Fraud Trial
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The Facts

  • Both of Donald Trump's adult sons, Donald Jr. and Eric, testified at their father's New York civil fraud trial on Thursday. Testifying first was Don. Jr., who said that even though he signed off on documents, "Every decision I made was based on information I got from Mazars," referring to the Trump Organization's accounting firm.

  • When Eric took the stand, state prosecutor Colleen Faherty, who works under Attorney General Letitia James, showed a letter the Trump Organization sent to Mazars, in which the Trump Organization affirmed its responsibility of "fair presentation" under generally accepted accounting principles. In response, Eric said, "I don’t believe I ever saw or worked on the statement of financial condition."


The Spin

Anti-Trump narrative

Donald Trump Jr.'s approach to this court case shows true malfeasance. The eldest Trump son, who has been the co-vice president of the Trump Organization since 2017, simply couldn't recall our outsourced blame on the issues surrounding this trial. It's quite curious that, after the Trump Org.'s former CFO admitted to grand larceny and tax fraud, the company's vice president conveniently does not know how his business is run.

Pro-Trump narrative

In true autocratic fashion, Letitia James has now broadened her scope of persecution to take down not only her political opponent but also his children. From the beginning, Trump has been targeted by New York's Democratic Attorney General to end his political career — the only difference now is that she's openly showing her desire to destroy everyone close to him as well.


Metaculus Prediction


Establishment split

CRITICAL

PRO

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