“The Hungarian sociologist Bálint Magyar has coined the term “mafia state” to describe the creation of “political families” (which can include a ruler’s actual family, as in the examples of Trump’s, Orbán’s, Bolsonaro’s and Erdoğan’s children, with especially nefarious roles reserved for sons-in-law); these families then use the state to enrich themselves.”
At NY trial, Eric and Donald Trump Jr say they were not aware of fraud
In back-to-back appearances in a New York courtroom, Trump’s adult sons both said they were not involved in the questionable valuations that now threaten to hobble the real estate empire that vaulted Trump to prominence. Trump put the two in charge of the business while he served as U.S. president from 2017 to 2021.
Eric Trump said he was not even aware of the financial statements that were used to secure loans and insurance that allowed the company to keep functioning.
However, he grew frustrated as state lawyer Andrew Amer presented emails, video calls and other evidence that showed him discussing financial estimates of some of the company’s trophy properties, including changes to the valuation methodology for a golf course. He said he did not remember many of those communications.
“Certainly I was aware of it, but I don’t think I was the main person involved, or even very involved,” he said of an appraisal of the family’s Seven Springs estate north of New York City.
Donald Jr. blamed accountants, both inside and outside the company.
“They had more information and details on all of this than I would have,” he said.
Evidence submitted at trial shows that both sons signed statements certifying that they had provided accurate information to Mazars, the outside accounting firm that prepared the financial statements.
Judge Arthur Engoron has already ruled that Trump, his two adult sons and the company fraudulently inflated asset values to win favorable financing terms. The trial largely concerns damages.
Trump’s former lawyer and fixer Michael Cohen has testified that Trump directed them to exaggerate the value of assets like Trump Tower in Manhattan in order to win better financing terms and bolster his reported net worth.
Trump has denied wrongdoing and has kept up a steady stream of attacks against Engoron and New York Attorney General Letitia James, who has brought the case.
“So sad to see my sons being PERSECUTED in a political Witch Hunt,” he wrote on social media.
Trump himself is scheduled to testify on Monday and his daughter Ivanka, who is not a defendant in the case, on Wednesday. For the former president, it would be the latest in courtroom appearance by the frontrunner for the Republican nomination to challenge Democratic President Joe Biden in the 2024 U.S. election.
James is seeking at least $250 million in damages, as well as a permanent ban on Trump, Donald Jr. and Eric from running businesses in the state.
Engoron has ordered the dissolution of companies that control pillars of Trump’s real estate portfolio, including Trump Tower. That ruling is on hold while Trump appeals.
Reporting by Jack Queen; Writing by Andy Sullivan; Editing by Scott Malone, Will Dunham, Lisa Shumaker and Jonathan Oatis
Excerpts:
Fontana is a member of Lega (the League), Italy’s very far-right party that formed a coalition with Meloni’s Fratelli d’Italia (Brothers of Italy) last year to win the fall election. While it’s understandable that an American Republican might see conservative groups abroad as fundamentally similar to the GOP, Lega is simply not comparable to the Republican party. If it were operating in the United States, Lega would represent just a sliver of the larger GOP, a faction to the right of the Freedom Caucus whose median member would be someone like Paul Gosar, and whose still-further-right wing might be represented by someone like Richard Spencer.Here are some highlights from Fontana’s career:
- He has embraced Golden Dawn, a Greek political party and neo-nazi group.
- He called Vladimir Putin “a light for us Westerners, who live in a great crisis of values.”
- During the 2014 Russian invasion of Crimea, he wore a “no to Russian sanctions” shirt. He was later invited to participate as an “election observer” in Crimea as part of Russia’s propaganda campaign justifying the invasion.
- As the Minister for Families, Fontana fought to restrict adoption and surrogacy for gay couples. He has also said same-sex parents “don’t exist.”
Vetting problems seem to be increasingly common for conservative lawmakers; many members of the House Republican Conference have been burned for posing with Proud Boys who were later convicted of sedition, unabashed white supremacists, and more. Of course, it’s possible that these problems might arise from more than simple negligence.
Former Rep. Devin Nunes and some of Trump’s children are slated to share a stage with Hitler-praising internet personalities this coming weekend at Trump National Doral resort in Miami. It’s hard to take care to avoid associating with the hateful conspiratorial fringe if you just don’t care that much about it in the first place.But the highest-ranking elected Republican currently in office should know better and do better, especially considering that during the same trip abroad, he showed that he won’t always take the far-right bait. [Boldface added]
Eric Trump: Putin Was Pants-Pissingly Terrified of My Dad, O.K.?
Another Trump boy is claiming Donald Trump was so big and strong the president of Russia knew not to cross him.
ERIC TRUMP IS IN THE SHITTING-HIMSELF STAGE OF THE TRUMP ORG FRAUD INVESTIGATION
That’s followed by the “crying on TV” phase, which the former first son appears to be perilously close to.
BY BESS LEVIN
Feb. 15, 2022
https://www.vanityfair.com/
At the Willard and the White House, the Jan. 6 Panel Widens Its Net
What went on at a five-star hotel near the White House the day before the riot could be a window into how a Trump-directed plot to upend the election ended in violence at the Capitol.
Luke Broadwater and
Among those in attendance, according to Mr. Herbster, were Mr. Trump’s sons Eric and Donald Jr.; Mr. Giuliani; Senator Tommy Tuberville of Alabama; the Trump advisers Peter Navarro, Corey Lewandowski and David Bossie; and Mike Lindell, the MyPillow executive and conspiracy theorist. (Boldface added)
Eric Trump Signs Up to Hype Daddy’s Record at Anti-Vax Event
Published Sep. 21, 2021
Donald Trump’s son Eric Trump will give the keynote speech next month at an anti-vaccine conference, marking the latest alliance between the Trump family and the GOP’s fringiest elements.
March 29, 2021
Dad’s “executive time‘:
At about 11:00, the president emerges for his first meeting of the day, which is typically an intelligence briefing.
During the day he has a couple of meetings, with several breaks of “Executive Time” interspersed, and returns to the residence at about 18:00, says Axios.
According to the report, this unscheduled “Executive Time” during the work day is spent in the dining room next to the Oval Office where the president watches cable news.
In one example Axios presented, the president’s schedule began at 11:00 with “Policy Time”, then “Executive Time” at 12:00, an hour for lunch, followed by more “Executive Time” from 13:30.
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-42610275
Storyful, a social media intelligence agency owned by Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp, found that a Tweet by Eric Trump, Jr., containing a video falsely claiming to show official ballots being burned (and easily debunked by officials in Virginia Beach on Election Day), was amplified again on Nov. 4 by Eric Trump.
As of Nov. 12, 2020, the Tweet, which has no fact-check label affixed to it, had been retweeted more than 37,000 times. Mentions of the phrase “ballot burning” also spiked on Twitter and Facebook shortly after Eric Trump’s tweet, going from around 20 mentions to over 500, according to the analysis.
The city of Virginia Beach’s tweet had been retweeted almost 600 times, indicating how difficult it is for factual information to compete with such misleading content.
The analysis only looked at the data for “public” Facebook posts made available via social monitoring tool CrowdTangle. The unknown number of interactions and shares on private Facebook posts was likely much higher. abcnews.com, Nov. 18, 2020
Eric Trump ”liked” a Tweet identifying QAnon “Shaman” Jacob Chansley and the assault on the U.S. Capitol that led as “a staged #Antifa attack”.
Fox News responded to such false accusations:
‘You Did It’: Fox News’ Jeanine Pirro Blasts Pro-Trump Capitol Rioters, Says Don’t Blame Antifa. newsweek.com, Jan. 10, 2021
Eric Trump on the first days of the Biden presidency to Fox Business’ Maria Bartiromo:
“First of all, Maria, it’s heartbreaking to us. I saw how much time and effort my father put into the job.”
https://edition.cnn.com/2021/03/29/politics/eric-trump-maria-bartiromo/index.html
Eric Trump Asks Dad Whether He Can Have Ivanka’s Room Now
“Today, I wear this partisan vote as a badge of honor,” Schiff said Wednesday. “Knowing that I have lived my oath. Knowing that I have done my duty, to hold a dangerous and out of control president accountable. And knowing that I would do so again — in a heartbeat — if the circumstances should ever require it.”