Franklin, Andrews, Kramer & Edelstein

[scion]

IT SURE SOUNDS LIKE DONALD TRUMP JR. LIED TO PROSECUTORS INVESTIGATING THE TRUMP ORGANIZATION

Despite that whole swearing to tell the truth business.

BY BESS LEVIN
APRIL 27, 2021
https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2021/04/donald-trump-jr-dc-deposition

When you hear about Donald Trump’s multitudinous legal woes these days, it’s typically in the context of the criminal probe being led by Manhattan district attorney Cyrus Vance Jr. Of course, that‘s with good reason—in the case of Vance, the D.A. has crucially been granted access to Trump’s much sought after tax returns, which could help his office uncover who knows how many crimes, and is reportedly working on flipping longtime Trump Organization CFO Allen Weisselberg. But it’s important to remember that the former president is actually the subject of two other criminal investigations as well, and is facing no fewer than 29 lawsuits. And in at least one of the cases, it appears his eldest son has not been entirely straight with prosecutors.

According to Mother Jones reporter David Corn, during a February 11 video deposition in which Donald Trump Jr. swore to tell the truth, he seemingly made what one might call inaccurate claims at best and outright lies at worst. Deposed as part of a lawsuit filed by D.C. attorney general Karl Racine against the Trump Organization, the Trump International Hotel, and Trump’s 2016 inaugural committee, in which Racine alleges the groups funneled large amounts of inauguration cash into the first family’s pockets via its hotel, Mother Jones notes that Trump Jr. frequently responded to questions with “I don’t recall,” in addition to downplaying his own involvement in the preparation for his dad’s big day. Which doesn’t seem to track with the actual truth.

Per Mother Jones:

One of the clearest instances of Trump Jr. not testifying accurately came when he was asked about [Stephanie] Winston Wolkoff [a top producer for the inauguration committee]. As the lawsuit notes, during the organization of the inauguration, Winston Wolkoff, then a close friend of Melania Trump, had raised concerns with the president-elect, Ivanka Trump, and [Rick] Gates [the committee’s former deputy chair] about the prices the Trump Hotel was charging the inauguration committee for events to be held there. This included a written warning to Ivanka Trump and Gates that Trump’s hotel was trying to charge the committee twice the market rate for event space. (Gates ignored the warning, the lawsuit notes, and the committee struck a contract with the Trump Hotel for $1.03 million, an amount the lawsuit says was far above the hotel’s own pricing guidelines.)

During his deposition, Trump Jr. was asked about Winston Wolkoff: “Do you know her?” He replied, “I know of her. I think I’ve met her, but I don’t know her. If she was in this room I’m not sure I would recognize her.” He added, “I had no involvement with her.”

Which might be a reasonable answer if not for the fact that in a video obtained by Mother Jones, Don Jr. is seen at a dinner held the night before the inauguration lavishing praise on Winston Wolkoff (and inauguration committee chair Tom Barrack) for the “incredible” work they did preparing for the event.
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https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2021/04/donald-trump-jr-dc-deposition