Donald Trump Jr. is not able to pass off responsibility for understanding the Trump Organization's finances onto other people, argued former White House ethics czar Norm Eisen on Wednesday's edition of CNN's "The Situation Room."
This comes as the elder Trump son gives testimony in the civil fraud trial brought by New York State, which argues the Trumps systematically lied about their property valuations in order to get more favorable loan agreements and seeks $250 million in fines and the dissolution of the Trump Organization. During that testimony, he claimed he had no idea how the finances of the business work because "that's what CPAs are for."
"Donald Trump Jr. was pressed by prosecutors on his involvement in financial documents right at the center of this lawsuit," said anchor Wolf Blitzer. "Donald Trump Jr. is trying to distance himself from the organization's financial statements, saying he leaves these matters to his accountants. What do you make of that?"
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"Well, the center of the New York State case, Wolf, is that in his roles in the business and as a trustee of these enterprises, he can't pass the buck completely," said Eisen. "He has some legal responsibility to make sure they're accurate."
"Of course, we've seen a ton of evidence that they were not accurate," added Eisen. "So I think today, New York State set him up. He was already visibly uncomfortable with some of the questions. We're going to see the payoff tomorrow. Probably not so good for Trump Jr. or for the Trump family's standing in this case."
More testimony from Trump family members are scheduled to come, including from Eric Trump, one of the most central figures in running the Trump organization, as well as Ivanka Trump and the former president himself.
Watch the video below or at the link here.
Norm Eisen says New York "set up" Don Jr.www.youtube.com
