Times expert has a preview of testimony for Trump's heirs in civil fraud trial
Eric and Ivanka Trump are the two witnesses whose testimony in the civil fraud trial against former President Donald Trump in New York could matter the most, argued New York Times economics and investigative reporter Susanne Craig on Monday.
"You brought it to our attention as a show, I think first, this anger, this seething from Trump," said MSNBC anchor Nicolle Wallace. "Tell me if the kids are as triggering as everything that's happened so far."
"They could be," said Craig. "It's going to be interesting to see them. We're going to see Don Jr. up first. And then Eric and then Ivanka's now going to be mid-next week. We have a sense of what they might say, because we've either seen their depositions or we've seen pieces of them. And ... Eric took the Fifth. He also gave another deposition where he did talk."
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"You know, they're going to be interesting really in different ways, and there could be — I think anytime any of these folks step into a courtroom there's some theater going on," Craig continued. "But I think Eric and Ivanka, if I had to pick two, would be the ones to watch. And they're going to be asked at the outset, just about these statements of financial condition we've heard so much about. These were the ones where Trump exaggerated his wealth and then submitted them to financial institutions, which is, you know, what has got them into trouble. And you're not supposed to do that. And they're going to be asked what they know about and were they involved in the drafting of it. And then were they — if not, who was? All three of them are going to get that."
"I think with Eric, you know, Eric has been essentially running the company for several years now, and I think is the most involved," said Craig. "He has been in court some days with his father. And he's intimately involved in some of the properties that the attorney general is looking at. So, I think that's what we can expect from him. I think he is probably going to be on the stand Thursday, potentially into Friday. That's what they're planning for."
Craig went on to explain why Ivanka would be the more interesting of the heirs.
"You know, she was not named as a defendant in this," she said. "The appellate court said she didn't fall in with the statute of limitation issues. But she has potentially really important information. She was an officer of the company for a while and she was involved in two really critical projects that the attorney general's looking at. One is Doral, and in a loan that was arranged with Deutsche Bank she was involved in some of the introductions between the management unit at Deutsche Bank and the Trump Organization. What were those conversations? A lot of questions about that loan, any representations about Doral. Was she involved in them? The same for the Old Post Office. Similar questions on that property."
"So I think if I were to pick ... I think the two, Eric and Ivanka, are going to be the most interesting as we head into next week with Ivanka," Craig added.
Watch the video below or at the link here.
Susanne Craig walks through Trump children's upcoming testimony youtu.be