The defense will kick off with Donald Trump Jr. taking the stand again, and more Trump family members—including the ex-president—could follow.
Topline
Attorneys for former President Donald Trump and other defendants are expected to start their defense Monday in the ongoing civil fraud trial over whether the ex-president and his company fraudulently misstated valuations on financial documents for personal gain, with Donald Trump Jr. being the defense’s first witness — and more high-profile names are likely to follow.Key Facts
Trump’s attorneys will start calling witnesses to the stand Monday after the New York Attorney General’s office wrapped up presenting its case at the trial, which accuses the former president, his business associates — including his sons — and the Trump Organization of fraudulently misstating valuations on statements of financial condition in order to obtain more favorable business deals and reflect a higher net worth for Trump.
The defendants have argued the valuations were subjective figures based on Trump’s real estate expertise — and that since loans obtained using those financial statements were paid back on time, no one was harmed by them anyway — and have sought to distance the former president and his sons from the alleged fraud scheme, even as they signed statements that attested to the documents’ accuracy.
In a witness list submitted to the court ahead of the trial, attorneys for the defendants said they could call up to 127 witnesses to the stand as part of their defense, though it’s still unclear which of those witnesses will ultimately testify.
Donald Trump Jr. will be the first witness to testify for the defense after first taking the stand two weeks prior, while former President Trump, Eric Trump and ex-Trump Organization CFO Allen Weisselberg could also head back to the courtroom after being previously questioned by the state (all are defendants in the case).
Ex-Trump Organization controller Jeffrey McConney, a defendant in the case who was also responsible for preparing the statements of financial condition at issue, could also return to the stand, along with such individuals as Patrick Birney, who previously testified that Weisselberg told him the ex-president wanted his net worth to “go up” on financial statements, and David McArdle, who worked on appraising a Trump property and disputed comments Eric Trump made under oath when McArdle last took the stand.
