Sign up for the daily Inside Washington email for exclusive US coverage and analysis sent to your inboxGet our free Inside Washington email
Donald Trump Jr and his younger brother Eric Trump have been ordered to pay a total of more than $8m for the fraudulent business dealings of their father’s sprawling real estate empire.
A New York court on Friday found former president Donald Trump and his Trump Organization liable for just under $464m, representing $364m in surrendered profits and $100m in interest so far.
Prosecutors had accused the company of grossly inflating Mr Trump’s net worth and assets in documents handed to banks and lenders in order to secure more favourable financing terms for some of his star properties.
In addition to the fines owed by Mr Trump and his firm, Judge Arthur Engoron ordered Don Jr, 46, and Eric, 40, to pay roughly $4m each.
Both men will be barred from executive offices with any New York company for two years, while the former president is barred from holding such officers or getting loans from New York banks for three years.
In response, Eric Trump called the ruling “a total joke” and “insane”, telling ABC News that the court was “living in an alternate universe” and that his family would appeal the decision.
He stood by his testimony during the trial that he did not recall ever believing that any of the financial information he signed off on was fake or doctored.
Alina Habba, a lawyer for Donald Trump, likewise slammed the decision.
“This verdict is a manifest injustice, plain and simple. It is the culmination of a multi-year, politically-fueled witch hunt that was designed to ‘take down Donald Trump’.”
Donald Trump Jr said: “We’ve reached the point where your political beliefs, combined with what venue your case is heard, are the primary determinants of the outcome, not the facts of the case!
“It’s truly sad what’s happened to our country, and I hope others see it before it’s too late to correct course.”
The trial, and the Trump family’s reaction, offered a preview of how Mr Trump plans to use his mounting legal troubles as a springboard for his 2024 presidential campaign.
The former president groundlessly framed the court case as a conspiracy to derail his shot at the White House, repeatedly defying courtroom instructions and gag orders while attacking the judge and his staff.
Friday’s judgement comes one day after a state judge in a separate criminal case scheduled a trial on charges stemming from hush money payments to adult film star, Stormy Daniels and less than a month after a federal jury in another civil case decided that he owes more than $83m to E Jean Carroll for repeatedly defaming a woman he was found liable for sexually assaulting.
Back-to-back judgments totalling more $400m could not only evaporate Mr Trump’s cash on hand but also seriously imperil a brand on which he has built his political career.
