Donald Trump Jr hails his ‘real estate artist’ father in fraud trial testimony

Sign up for the daily Inside Washington email for exclusive US coverage and analysis sent to your inbox Get our free Inside Washington email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }} With his return to the witness stand in a fraud trial that threatens the family business, Donald Trump Jr launched a lengthy sales pitch praising his father’s “artistry” and his real estate “canvas” as his attorneys began their defence. Talk about how great the Trump Organization was.” As his attorneys walked him through the timeline, Donald Trump Jr called Mar-a-Lago an “American castle” and “one of the most spectacular estates in the entire world” and his father an “artist with real estate” who has “incredible vision where other people don’t.” But the values of those properties were grossly inflated in statements handed to financial institutions for financing terms that enriched the Trump Organization and the family, according to Ms James’s lawsuit. Judge Engoron already has found the defendants liable for fraud, dismissing Mr Trump’s prior statements as “wholly without basis in law or fact.” Donald Trump Jr sits with attorneys Christopher Kise, left, and Clifford Robert, right, on Monday After an appearance on the witness stand that felt more like a marketing presentation than trial testimony with tens of millions of dollars on the line, a brief cross examination from Ms Faherty cut directly into a handful of points absent from Donald Trump Jr’s second round in the courtroom. Judge Arthur Engoron has already found the defendants liable for fraud The case – poking directly at the “businessman” narrative behind Mr Trump’s persona and presidential campaign – has clearly rattled the former president, whose testimony tried to thread a needle that downplayed the existence of the statements of financial condition while arguing that his net worth is actually much higher than the already inflated numbers on them.