Two of Donald Trump's sons took the stand to deny their role in company fraud this week, and the court in New York saw some combative exchanges and even a few humorous moments.

New York Judge Arthur Engoron has already ruled that brothers Eric and Donald Jr, their father and other Trump Organization executives inflated company assets to secure favourable loans, but the months-long trial will determine the penalties the defendants will face.

New York Attorney General Letitia James is seeking a $250m (£202m) fine and severe restrictions on the family business.

The New York Attorney General’s office pressed Donald Trump’s two adult sons Thursday about their knowledge of and involvement with the former president’s financial statements in some of the most significant and tense days of the fraud trial.

The back-to-back appearances Thursday from Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump – who both helped run the Trump Organization while their father was in the White House – comes ahead of the former president’s own testimony on Monday.

Eric Trump claimed during testimony at a Manhattan fraud trial Thursday that he wasn’t involved with his dad’s financial statements — echoing his brother Donald Trump Jr.’s testimony – but was more prickly on the stand than his elder sibling.

The two Trump brothers arrived at Manhattan Supreme Court on Thursday morning wearing nearly identical clothing, including dark navy blue suits, light blue ties, brown shoes, slicked-back coifs and neatly groomed facial hair.

Don Jr., 45, waved to the press cameras as the entourage-flanked duo walked inside.

In back-to-back testimonies Thursday, former President Trump’s two adult sons distanced themselves from Trump Organization financial statements key to the New York attorney general’s case against their family business. 

Both Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump denied any involvement in their father’s financial statements, suggesting instead they relied on accountants and other experts to make sure the numbers were correct.  

Donald Trump Jr. took the stand Wednesday afternoon at his father’s civil fraud trial in New York City, laying the blame for any financial irregularities at the family firm squarely on its accountants.

The ex-president’s eldest son faced a grilling from the New York Attorney General’s office about the Trump Organization’s financial statements, which prosecutors allege were falsified to massively inflate the value of Donald Trump’s properties.

Donald Trump's biggest supporters are claiming more than twice as many jobs were created in the first 30 months of his administration than in a comparable period under Joe Biden. This is misleading; the calculations are valid only by excluding millions of jobs lost and gained during the worst period of the coronavirus pandemic. Economists also say the numbers discount other significant factors, and are not an accurate reflection of the impact of each president's policies.

Donald Trump Jr. lambasted Fox News on Wednesday, accusing the conservative network of trying to “censor and silence” his father’s supporters because it had barred him from entering a spin room after the GOP presidential primary debate.

Trump Jr. and several others, including Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.), attended the Milwaukee event as surrogates for former President Donald Trump, who declined to participate.

Donald Trump Jr. called on conservatives to pump the brakes on their boycott of Bud Light, noting that the right-wing meltdown over the beer company partnering with a transgender influencer wasn’t worth “destroying” an American icon.

At the same time, the presidential scion-turned-podcaster said Anheuser-Busch “shit the bed” with its Dylan Mulvaney marketing campaign, adding that “if they do this again” then “screw them” because it would be open season on the brewer.

Donald Trump Jr. spoke to Breitbart News at Turning Point USA’s annual AmericaFest conference on Sunday in Phoenix, Arizona, where he said that Big Tech has engaged in “election interference” via its censorship of conservative accounts.

After being asked how much damage he believes has been done to elections as a result of censorship by Big Tech, Trump Jr. said, “This would be what they would call election interference.”

A new $250 million civil fraud lawsuit filed by New York Attorney General Letitia James against former President Donald Trump and three of his adult children will not lead to jail time.

The 214-page lawsuit seeks the repayment of the money from alleged fraudulent practices and to remove all of the Trumps—including children Donald Jr., Eric and Ivanka—from their current roles at the Trump Organization. It would also ban them from future leadership roles in New York.