The testimony of Trump Sons during their fraud trial revealed four points

 The testimony of Trump Sons during their fraud trial revealed four points

This week, two of Donald Trump's sons spoke in court to refute their involvement in corporate fraud. The New York court saw some heated arguments and even some amusing moments.

Though the fines the defendants will pay will be decided during the months-long trial, New York Judge Arthur Engoron has already found that brothers Eric and Donald Jr., their father, and other Trump Organization officials overstated business assets to win favorable loans.

Attorney General of New York Letitia James is requesting harsh limitations on the family company in addition to a $250 million (£202 million) punishment.

The following are some of the most important lessons from their testimonies.

1) Two brothers, two radically different aesthetics

Despite the fact that Eric and Donald Trump Jr. showed up in New York court this week wearing almost similar blue suits and ties, they had completely different attitudes when testifying.

The two executive vice-presidents of the Trump Organization were questioned for hours on their responsibilities inside the business and their participation in financial statement preparation. Mr. Trump Jr. seemed relaxed, often joking about with the judge and even asking a sketch artist in the courtroom to "make me look ".

Prosecutors questioned Eric Trump about his connection to his father's financial accounts, and he seemed uncomfortable. Prosecutors were irritated because he avoided giving a yes-or-no response that would have connected him to the financial statements, even though he was more directly linked to managing the Trump Organization than his brother.

The attorney general's staff frequently prodded him during the opening few minutes of his testimony on Friday, asking him whether he recalled a call concerning the state's fraud probe from years ago. This created a sense of unease. He raised his voice and continued, "I get thousands of calls every day." "I don't remember specific calls."

2) The two exchanged accusations.

The two brothers' styles differed greatly while they were on the witness stand, but their arguments were almost the same. They both maintained that because financial statements were prepared by specialists, business accountants should be held accountable for any problems. "I leave it to my accountants," said Mr. Trump Jr. during the first two hours of his hearing.

Soon after, his brother claimed, "I didn't work on a statement of financial condition." "I've been very, very clear about that." Eric Trump's tactic seemed to be less successful when prosecutors uncovered emails showing that he had previously consented to provide financial data on properties in order to assist with his father's yearly financial statements. As a consequence, he gave evidence for many stressful hours, doing his best to sidestep yes-or-no questions.

The judge and Trump's attorneys had a falling out.

The arguments between Judge Engoron and the Trump family attorneys were among the most heated moments.

When attorney Christopher Kise accused the judge and his legal clerk of prejudice on Thursday, things became heated. Mr. Engoron said that Mr. Kise's criticism of his female legal clerk may be motivated by "a bit of misogyny". Mr. Kise responded negatively to the judge's comments, claiming he was not a sexist. "I'm very happily married and I have a 17-year-old daughter," he said.

The dispute continued throughout Friday's court hearing, with Mr. Engoron and Mr. Kise exchanging accusations of prejudice. The team of the attorney general also voiced their opinion, contending that the Trump team's grievances were only an attempt at diversion. Shortly after Friday's sessions came to an end, Mr. Engoron extended the gag order on Donald Trump—which forbids him from discussing court personnel—to include his attorneys.

4) Trump is keeping a close eye on

Despite his absence this week, Donald Trump's influence was felt as his thoughts were expressed in a barrage of social media tweets throughout the proceedings. On Thursday, he defended his "very good children" on Truth Social.

He posted something saying, "So sad to see my sons being PERSECUTED in a political Witch Hunt." In another, he chastised the magistrate. This week, Mr. Trump traveled to Texas to attend campaign rallies with a number of state officials in Dallas and Houston. But on Monday morning, he'll go back to New York to testify.

Ivanka Trump, his daughter, is anticipated to appear in court after her father. She claimed in her appeal that she was no longer involved with the family company or the state, but this was denied. She will thus be expected to testify next week even though she is not a co-defendant.