Don Jr. to be called as first defense witness at fraud trial: Trump legal team
Donald Trump Jr. will be the first witness called by the former president’s lawyers next week as they kick off their defense case in the $250 million civil fraud trial against the family, according to Trump’s legal team.
New York Attorney General Letitia James rested her case on Wednesday after her office called Ivanka Trump as its 25th and final witness since trial began six weeks ago.
The former president’s legal team is expected to present their case beginning on Monday, through Dec. 15, after the attorneys made a failed bid Thursday to immediately shut the trial down on grounds the AG’s office failed to prove its case.
However, Trump’s lawyers were granted a win Thursday when the judge struck down a motion by the AG seeking to block four of their expert witnesses from testifying, .
Don Jr., 45, was called last week by James’ side and was questioned for less than four hours spread ov🅷er two days.
Trump lawyers did not cross-examine the eldest son — presumably because they had plans to recall him as a witness in their own case.
Cross-examination can only cover topics that were already covered on direct questioning. By recalling a witness instead ﷽of cross-examining them, a lawyer can better control t🐬he narrative of the testimony.
Eric, 39, was also called by the AG’s office last week and not cross-examined by Trump’s side. Trump lawyer Christopher Kise has already said he plans to recall Eric during the defense case.
It is unclear whether the former president, 77, or Ivanka, 41 — who testified on Monday and Wednesday, respectively — will be recalled by the defense.
The father and daughter are not currently scheduled for next week, according to a source with knowledge of the case. Trump’s legal team did not comment on whether they would be called next week.
Ivanka, unlike her other three family members, was cross-examined by Trump’s lawyers on Wednesday — which could be an indication she will not be recalled by the defense.
The former first daughter unsuccessfully fought to stay out of court and was forced by Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Arthur Engoron — and later an appeals court — to answer the AG’s subpoena to take the witness stand.
All four Trumps were originally defendants in the AG’s case accusing Trump of lying on yearly financial statements, inflating his assets by billions a year to get better loan and insurance terms.
But Ivanka was dismissed from༒ the case in June when an appeals courtꦉ found the claims against her fell outside of the statute of limitations.
All three siblings denied having any involvement in their dad’s statements of financial condition.
Testimony by Don Jr. and Ivanka was noticeably less tense than their father and Eric’s was.
The elder son used humor to defuse courtroom tension and deflected responsibility by claiming he relied on the firm’s accountants to manage the financial statements.
No witnesses were called on Thursday. Instead, lawyers on both sides took the majority of the day to argue the motion from Trump’s attorneys for a directed verdict to shut down the trial immediately and rule in favor of the ex-president on the grounds that the state failed to adequately prove its case.
Engoron said the trial would go forward Monday, and noted he’d “taken under advisement” the arguments. Courts are closed Friday for Veterans Day.
But the judge awarded a small — and rare — victory to Trump’s side, finding that four expert witnesses they planned to call shouldn’t be barred from testifying like the AG attorneys had requested, ABC News reported.
“You’ve won the battle. We’ll see if you win the war,” Engoron said to one of Trump’s lawyers.
With Post wires
