By Natalie Venegas
Weekend Reporter
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Ahead of Eric Trump's testimony in his father's $250 million civil fraud trial on Wednesday, a legal analyst said his testimony may be the "missing link" in Letitia James' case.
The trial stems from a lawsuit New York Attorney General James filed last year, alleging that Donald Trump and top executives at his family company, The Trump Organization, conspired to increase his net worth by billions of dollars on financial statements provided to banks and insurers to make deals and secure loans.
Trump, who is campaigning for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination and is the current frontrunner, has denied any wrongdoing and has called the trial politically motivated. Eric and Donald Trump Jr., senior executives of The Trump Organization, are also accused of assisting the former president and are set to testify along with Ivanka Trump.
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On Wednesday in an MSNBC blog post for The Rachel Maddow Show, former litigator and MSNBC legal analyst Lisa Rubin explained how Eric Trump's expected testimony may be a missing link in the case as he is expected to be asked about his involvement in financial statements that the attorney general alleges were grossly inflated.
"Put another way, Eric's testimony—assuming he recalls various events and testifies truthfully—could help establish the missing link in the attorney general's remaining claims: intent, both his own and those of his co-defendants," Rubin wrote.
...
Rubin continues to note that while Eric, who insisted at his deposition that his participation in developing certain properties was at a "very macro" level, he was also allegedly heavily involved in the valuation of several of the assets at issue and that his testimony may reveal his role in the accusations against him.
"By contrast, a review of the AG's allegations makes clear that Eric, depicted as a flighty, dumb 'himbo' on 'Saturday Night Live' is the opposite: a methodical, detail-oriented executive who is effectively running the Trump Org since his father first took office—and who, at his May 2023 deposition, repeatedly minimized his role and disclaimed recollections of events and transactions memorialized in documents the attorney general showed him."
Meanwhile, as Trump's children will continue to testify in court, the former president took to Truth Social to lash out at Judge Arthur Engoron for involving his kids in the trial.
"Leave my children alone, Engoron. You are a disgrace to the legal profession," Trump wrote.
Trump faces being banned from doing business in New York state, having his properties removed from his control or being forced to pay a fine totaling hundreds of millions of dollars.
Correction, 11/2/23, 4:45 a.m. ET: The value of the lawsuit was corrected to $250 million.
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