After being questioned for hours in a $250 million fraud lawsuit in New York, Donald Trump Jr. joked with the courtroom sketch artist and told her to “make me look sexy” as he departed the witness stand.
According to Rosenberg of the Reuters news agency, Don Jr. provided an example of a sketch he thought was a flattering rendition.
It wasn’t a sketch by Rosenberg but a recent one by Sam Bankman-Fried. He said that particular drawing of the ex-cryptocurrency magnate made him look like a superstar.
When Donald Trump Sr. was charged in a separate case involving hush money payments to porn star Stormy Daniels, Rosenberg drew him, and the image was published on the cover of The New Yorker.
The Trump brothers, Donald, Don Jr., and Eric are in a civil fraud trial where Judge Arthur Engoron has ruled that they fraudulently inflated the values of their properties to secure favorable terms on loans. Eric Trump denied involvement with financial statements about his father’s property empire.
Don Jr. took the stand and acknowledged signing fraudulent financial documents but suggested the blame lay with others who worked on the documents. He relied on accountants within the Trump Organization and outside firm Mazars to ensure accurate financial estimates.
These documents are at the center of the trial, threatening the entire Trump property empire.
The two brothers took control of the Trump Organization in 2017 when their father became President of the United States. New York Attorney General Letitia James began investigating its finances, and the company’s top financial officer is now a certified public accountant.
Trump, the frontrunner for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination, is expected to testify in the case on Monday. James is seeking a quarter billion dollars in damages and a permanent ban on Trump, Don Jr., and Eric running businesses in New York.
Trump has attended court several times to observe the proceedings and accused Judge Engoron of political bias.
