‘Don Jr. Is a Liar’: Watergate Prosecutor Calls Fraud Trial Testimony ‘Nonsense’ (Video)

Donald Trump Jr.’s claim that the Trump Organization’s accountants are responsible for the cooked books that led to the current civil fraud case in New York are “nonsense,” longtime prosecutor Nick Akerman told CNN.

During a Thursday appearance on CNN, Akerman said that, based on the testimony of former President Donald Trump’s eldest son, Judge Arthur Engoron will likely conclude that “Don. Jr. is a liar” — and he should.

Akerman, who was a member of the Watergate prosecution team, added, “The fact of the matter is, [Don Jr.] not only signed off on the financial statements, he basically said that he had evaluated the adequacy of the services performed by the accountants and lawyers.”

He continued, “Don Jr. claimed yesterday that he has no idea what generally accepted accounting principles are and that just doesn’t cut it… He had the obligation to sit down with the accountants to go over those numbers and explain to him where they got those numbers.”

Akerman also pointed out, “The other accountant who certified these on financial was Allen Weisselberg, and he went to prison.” After serving three months in jail, the former Trump Organization CFO was released in April.

The veteran lawyer went on to suggest that the Trump Organization’s severance package to their former CFO was “hush money.”

“Weisselberg was fined a million dollars. And what did the Trump Organization do? They gave him as a severance, a million dollars matching up exactly [with] the fines and penalties on the criminal case. If that’s not a case of hush money payment, I don’t know what it is. And I’m sure the judge is going to take that into account in his final decision,” Akerman argued.

Engoron has already slapped the former president with $15,000 in fines for violating his gag order and fundraising off of the $250 million trial. Last month, a different Watergate prosecutor, Jill Wine-Banks, said that the only way Donald Trump will stop making threats on social media is if he is in prison.

On Thursday, Trump’s second son, Eric Trump, also took the stand. Trump himself is scheduled to testify on Monday.

Watch Akerman’s full interview on CNN in the video above.

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