Trump Civil Fraud Trial: Trump Lawyers Attack Law Clerk, Overshadowing Eric Trump’s Testimony

Since NYT paywalls everything, here’s the article:

Eric Trump faced questions on the witness stand about the finances of his family’s business for a second day on Friday in a civil fraud case that has threatened to upend the firm and tar the image of his father, former President Donald J. Trump.

But his testimony was overshadowed by a testy back-and-forth between Justice Arthur F. Engoron and one the Trump lawyers over the judge’s law clerk, Allison Greenfield.

The lawyer, Christopher M. Kise, repeatedly objected to the clerk communicating with the judge through notes and suggested she has a bias. The judge, clearly frustrated, said he has a right to confer with Ms. Greenfield and firmly rejected the notion he was biased, saying, “I cut this case right down the middle.”
By repeatedly bringing up the issue and putting it in the court record, Mr. Kise said that he was laying the groundwork for either an appeal or a motion for a mistrial.

In his testimony Friday, Eric Trump consistently batted away questions about what he knew of the Trump Organization’s financial statements, claiming he did not know the granular details. “That is not what an executive at my level of the company does,” he said at one point when asked about how properties were assessed in Florida.

During hours on the stand on Thursday in State Supreme Court in Manhattan, Eric Trump and his older brother, Donald Trump Jr., had blamed outside accountants for errors in company financial statements. The documents are at the heart of the civil case, which accuses the brothers, their father and the family’s Trump Organization of defrauding banks and insurers.

The former president’s sons had been summoned to the stand by the office of New York’s attorney general, Letitia James, who has sued the Trumps and the Trump Organization, accusing them of overvaluing the former president’s assets to obtain favorable loans and other benefits.

Here’s what to know:

The brothers’ testimony — a full month into the trial — was the first by members of the Trump family. Ivanka Trump, who was a key part of the business before joining her father in the White House, will testify next week. Former President Donald J. Trump is expected on the stand on Monday.

Donald Trump’s eldest sons have spent their careers working in the family business and expanded their roles during their father’s presidency, with Eric Trump running the Trump Organization’s day-to-day operations. The two men have different roles and different personalities.

The case differs from other legal challenges facing the former president. It is a civil case, not criminal. There is no jury; Justice Arthur F. Engoron will determine the outcome. And although Mr. Trump’s sons could have asserted their Fifth Amendment rights against answering questions, doing so would have been risky: In a civil case, a jury or judge is allowed to make a negative assumption when a defendant declines to testify. Read more about the differences here.

Since the trial began on Oct. 2, the former president has been a fixture inside and outside the courtroom. He has made statements that Justice Engoron said violated a gag order that bars him from attacking court staff. Here’s a look at key moments in the case so far.