The Trump sons are expected in a civil trial that threatens the family empire

Donald Trump has always linked his children to his business and political career: Three of them and a Republican billionaire are expected on the witness stand in New York starting Wednesday in a civil trial for financial fraud that threatens his real estate empire. Donald Trump Jr., 45, appeared in a Manhattan court Wednesday afternoon for the start of his trial, which was scheduled for the same day, but the hearing of earlier witnesses on the list had not been completed. The parade of family clans should continue with 39-year-old Eric Trump.

Both are Executive Vice Presidents The Trump Organization, which brings together countless companies that manage residential and office skyscrapers, luxury hotels and golf courses around the world. Like their father, New York State Attorney General Letitia James was accused of inflating the group’s assets to billions of dollars in the 2010s to get better loans from banks and insurance companies. “Leave my children alone, Enguran. You are a disgrace to the legal profession», Donald Trump Sr. posted on his social network Truth Social overnight, addressing Judge Arthur Engoron, who is presiding over the trial. And, in a series of gruesome news familiar to him, “Crazy, completely unbalanced and dangerous“, and”Doing a lousy job of the Democrats“.

Since the trial began on October 2nd, the magistrate has already fined Donald Trump $5,000 and $10,000 for assaulting his clerk. Unless the agenda is disrupted, the 77-year-old former president of the United States will be questioned on Monday, less than a year before the November 5, 2024 presidential election, where he hopes to run for president again. United Nations.

Read moreNew York judge finds Trump responsible for “repeated” financial “frauds.”

To follow, two days later, Ivanka Trump left The Trump Organization In 2017, two of his brothers assumed leadership of the group to enter the White House as advisors to the 45th President of the United States. But the latter, who was not the subject of the trial, appealed the judge’s decision on Wednesday, days before ordering his testimony.

“Repeated scams»

Donald Trump Jr and Eric Trump are former US President’s staunch political allies, an unfailing loyalty they show on a daily basis in the media and social networks. They have not deviated from the principle of self-defense since the trial began a month ago. Prosecutors argue that the valuations of the group’s properties, such as Trump Tower or the 40 Building, are. Wall Street Subjective but honest, and never lost a dollar by lending to banks The Trump Organization.

But according to the head of the investment bank MM Dillon & Co., Michiel McCarty, called as an expert at the Bar on Wednesday, Lending Banks, Deutsche Bank, Donald Trump may have decided to set higher interest rates if he had a less rosy picture of his financial situation. He reviewed four loans to finance projects around a golf course in Florida, two luxury hotels in Washington and Chicago, and 40 Wall Street.

Donald Trump, a regular at hearings and a favorite in the polls for Republican primaries, has turned every column on the courthouse corridors into a mini-press conference, showing himself to be the victim of a legal machination, as in Four. His presence in the hearings, particularly in other cases where he has been criminally charged for trying to sway the 2020 presidential election, indicates how much importance Donald Trump is placing on the case. If he doesn’t risk prison time, the trial could include losing control of a portion of his real estate holdings, an additional $250 million in fines and a ban on managing companies in New York.

Before the trial began on October 2, Judge Engoron said the Office of the Public Prosecutor “Between 2014 and 2021, there is substantial evidence that the defendants overvalued the assets.“in”812 million (to) 2.2 billion dollars» Depending on the year. Because of this “Repeated fraud», he ordered the liquidation of the companies, a real legal bombshell, but his decision was suspended on appeal. The case focuses on other violations of financial laws and the quantum of penalty.