The characterization of Donald Trump, Jr.’s testimony in New York today as “pleasant and yawn-inducing” is actually an encapsulation of the man himself. He’s not the deepest drawer in the cabinet. And while he may believe that what he said on the stand was benign enough (he and one of the lawyers were actually laughing yesterday about the definition of GAAP, generally accepted accounting principles) the damage is there.
Daddy Trump may long for the Perry Mason moments, because to his limited thinking, formed solely by watching TV, a gotcha moment is everything. But not in the real world. No, in the real world a defendant buries himself shovelful by shovelful and that is what Junior did on the stand today, “yawn-inducing” or not.
Trump Jr. signed the sale agreement, and he laughingly says he did not make any money personally from it. The sale was for $60 million, but after costs, Trump says he does not know the net profit.
— Lisa Rubin (@lawofruby) November 2, 2023
Now Faherty is reviewing an agreement to sell Trump Ferry Point to Bally’s, a transaction that closed.
— Lisa Rubin (@lawofruby) November 2, 2023
Not only does the AG take issue with the veracity of those representations, but the fact that Trump Jr. signed it, after this investigation is underway, without having more than a cursory discussion with the same accountants to whom the representations were made is stunning.
— Lisa Rubin (@lawofruby) November 2, 2023
If you’ve read this far, you’re probably bored. But not all important testimony comes with fireworks. I cannot overstate how damaging these admissions are for Trump Jr., as pleasant and relatively yawn-inducing as this review of financial documents sounds.
— Lisa Rubin (@lawofruby) November 2, 2023
As stated, in the real world, graves, both legal and literal, are dug one shovel at a time, not with a grand dramatic flourish.
There are a few tweets about specific documents Junior looked at and then the testimony went on.
Trump Jr. still will not say he intended for the bank to rely on these certifications but acknowledges he was “fine” with their doing so. (To this former litigator’s ears, it sounds like he was well prepped and encouraged not to concede what he did and did not intend if…
— Lisa Rubin (@lawofruby) November 2, 2023
Faherty is now showing Jr. an email attaching a “no mat” letter from Mazars to the City Department of Parks & Recreation on which he is copied. The letter states that based on conversations with the trustees, Mazars is not aware of any material changes to Trump’s financial…
— Lisa Rubin (@lawofruby) November 2, 2023
And asked whether he intended for the bank to rely on it, he says, “Sure.”
— Lisa Rubin (@lawofruby) November 2, 2023
They were “the people who were experts … down to the very granular level,” and they gave them comfort from them that it was ok for him to sign.
— Lisa Rubin (@lawofruby) November 2, 2023
Faherty hands Trump Jr. another new doc bearing his signature as “attorney-in-fact.” He has trouble explaining what it meant to be an attorney in fact, noting he surmised this is how the attorneys structured a particular transaction.
— Lisa Rubin (@lawofruby) November 2, 2023
“Here comes the kicker.”
And as expected, here comes the kicker: the first of several so-called “rep letters” from the Trump Org to Mazars signed by Jr. This one is dated 3/10/17 — and is after he was put on notice that Forbes had questioned the size of the Trump Tower apartment.
— Lisa Rubin (@lawofruby) November 2, 2023
“Herein lies the trap.”
(Herein lies the trap. Trump not only received the inquiry, but the statement of financial condition as of 6/30/16, which was finalized 9 days later and for which he was responsible as the trustee, includes a valuation of the apartment still based on that 33k sq ft.)
— Lisa Rubin (@lawofruby) November 2, 2023
Now Colleen Faherty is showing Jr. a new document, a 3/1/17 email from a Noah Kirsch from Forbes to Alan Garten with a “fact checking inquiry” that includes multiple questions about the Trump Tower penthouse, which Trump had represented to Forbes consisted of 33k sq ft.
— Lisa Rubin (@lawofruby) November 2, 2023
You’ve got the flavor of this by now. The recitation and analysis of facts buries the Trumps. Donald Trump can rant and rave about generalities but when it gets down to specifics, there is no defense. The Trumps were all involved in fraud up to their eyeballs.
This is why Ivanka doesn’t want to show up in court. She has no way to distance herself from her actions and that’s what she needs to do.
What a soap opera. Here’s George Conway weighing in and he’s always informative and comical at the same time.
A logical case of agreed facts is being built up nicely, step by step, brick by brick. Soon the evidence will have built an undeniable structure in which the Trump family lies, obfuscations, and fabrications will echo nicely in counterpoint to the actual truth.
And that is precisely the plan. And the evidence supports that plan. Trump’s lawyers know they can’t win. So they’re making the best of a bad bargain and doing theatrics, so as to have something to play on right-wing media.