Donald Trump Jr. takes witness stand in father’s New York trial

Former President Donald Trump’s eldest son took the witness stand for the first time on Wednesday in a civil fraud case in New York that alleges the ex-president overstated his net worth by billions of dollars over the course of several years.

Donald Trump Jr., a co-defendant in the case and executive vice president of the Trump Organization, was questioned by the plaintiff’s counsel about his knowledge of certain general business practices and details about fellow co-defendant Allen Weisselberg and the Donald J. Trump Revocable Trust, according to live courtroom updates from the Messenger.

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Trump Jr. is set to return on Thursday for more questioning.

Attorney General Letitia James said in a sweeping 233-page complaint brought in New York Supreme Court last year that Trump Jr. was among several defendants in the case who “knowingly participated in” a scheme to exaggerate the value of Trump’s assets on documents so Trump could secure certain loans and ultimately profit.

Part of Trump Jr.’s role at the Trump Organization involves overseeing all of its commercial leases, including Trump Tower in midtown, according to James. Among many controversies surrounding Trump’s assets, the former president was found to have claimed in documents for years that the penthouse in Trump Tower was three times larger in square footage than it actually is.

All three of Trump’s adult children, Trump Jr., Eric Trump, and Ivanka Trump, have executive vice president roles at the Trump Organization. They were all initially named as defendants in the case, but Ivanka Trump successfully had her name dropped from it after arguing relevant statutes of limitations had lapsed.

Both she and Eric Trump are still expected to testify as witnesses in the case. Eric Trump is currently scheduled to take the stand on Thursday after Trump Jr. Ivanka Trump is expected to take the stand later next week, but on Wednesday she filed an appeal in an attempt to fight the subpoena for her testimony.

Trump himself is slated to testify on Monday.

The former president has appeared numerous times for the trial, and in remarks to the press at the courthouse, he has repeatedly asserted his innocence and called the case a “witch hunt.”

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Trump was found liable for several of the allegations in James’s complaint in a pretrial ruling, which also determined Trump must be stripped of his business licenses in New York. The trial focuses on a few remaining allegations and will also determine if Trump has to pay $250 million in damages over the case.

The trial is expected to last through the middle of December.