-Donald Trump Jr.
took the stand in the ongoing
New York fraud trial against his family's business and claimed that he had
virtually nothing to do with his own company's
financial documents, even though he personally
signed them. For more on this,
it's time for "A Closer Look." [ Cheers and applause ] ♪♪ Even as Donald Trump remains
the overwhelming favorite to win the GOP nomination
for president in 2024, he and his various underlings are finally starting to face
legal and financial consequences for their attempt to overturn
the 2020 election, like his ex-lawyer
Sidney Powell, the insane leopard-print lady who stood in front
of a soaking-wet Rudy Giuliani and claimed China, Cuba,
and the ghost of Hugo Chavez had all teamed up with
an election software company to rig voting machines,
and then was later a key witness in the January 6th
congressional investigation, where she showed up
to her deposition chugging Diet Dr. Pepper
like it was Pepto-Bismol and looking like Grandma Saracen
from "Friday Night Lights." [ Laughter ] "Hey, Grandma, I'm gonna
go study with Julie, okay?" "Matt, lock the door behind you. I don't want Hugo Chavez
to get me." "All right, I'll stay.
I hope Julie doesn't get mad." [ Laughter ] And, yeah, that --
maybe you're thinking that "Friday Night Lights"
reference would've worked better
when it aired, but not a lot of people
watched it then. [ Laughter ] I don't think it was ever
gonna work. But if it makes one more person start "Friday Night Lights,"
it was worth it. [ Cheers and applause ] Well, Powell has now
pleaded guilty in Georgia, and as part
of her guilty plea, she agreed to cooperate
with prosecutors and pay restitution to
the secretary of state's office, as well as an additional fine.
And on Wednesday, one of Georgia's senior
election officials, a Republican,
showed off the check she wrote to
the secretary of state's office at a press conference
to discuss election integrity. -For over three years now, we have had people lying about
our elections in Georgia. We have now begun to see
the accountability of that take place. So yesterday afternoon,
we received our first restitution check
from Sidney Powell. It's a small down payment
on which we owe to the voters and the people of Georgia.
It's $2,700. -Huh.
[ Laughter ] Just $2,700? Is that worth
a press conference? I feel like holding
a press conference might cost more than $2,700. But you know what?
It's your money, Georgia. You go crazy.
Still, knowing Sidney Powell, $2,700 could be all of her
Diet Dr. Pepper money. Now she's gonna have
to downgrade to Mr. Pibb. "I could never imbibe
such an anti-American beverage. Mr. Pibb, as we all know,
colluded with Mr. Peanut and the ghost of Chester Cheetah
to steal our elections. That's why I had no choice but
to kill him and wear his pelt as my sweater."
[ Laughter ] So, multiple Trump associates,
including Powell, have already flipped
and pleaded guilty in Georgia, an actual criminal case that
could put Trump behind bars. And yet, it's the civil fraud
trial in Manhattan that seems to have
rattled him the most. According to
The Washington Post... First of all, how can you tell
when he's livid? Because he always looks livid.
[ Laughter ] He has resting livid face. He scowls more than
an apartment cat watching dogs pass
by through the window. Second, I buy the line
about his brand, but not the line about
his children's inheritance. There is no way Trump plans
on leaving his children with anything other than
a giant stack of unpaid bills. If he has any money left
when he dies, he's going to be entombed
with it like a pharaoh. [ As Trump ]
"Bury me with my last $300 and also Rudy Giuliani." [ As Giuliani ]
"It'll be an honor, boss. You want to be big spoon
or little spoon?" [ Laughter ] [ As Trump ]
"I want you to stay alive and scare the rats away
from my dead body." [ As Giuliani ]
"The dream!" [ Laughter ] [ Normal voice ] What really
seems to be pissing Trump off is the judge in the case ruling that he's just not as
wealthy as he claims to be. For example,
Trump has been furious about the judge's valuation
of his Mar-a-Lago estate, which Trump claims
is worth more than $1 billion. -I have a house
that's very valuable, and they try and make it like
I'm increasing values. And, honestly,
it's a very conservative number. But they valued a house
that's worth 100 times more than the number they used. Let's say 50 to 100. They valued it at $18 million, and people say it's worth
anywhere from 50 to 100 and maybe even that more. He's been given
this information. It's now been proven
to be false, such as Mar-a-Lago
in Palm Beach, Florida, being worth $18 million, when, in fact, it's much closer
to $1.5 billion. -1.5 billion? [ Laughter ] You're saying
your low-rent SeaWorld rip-off, a chintzy roadside motel that looks like the kind
of thing state health inspectors would shut down
because they found feces on the Slip 'N Slide is worth as
much as the Burj Khalifa? Your dumb hotel for plastic
surgeons and their third wives is worth $1 billion? It looks like
the fake-stucco castle on the 13th hole
of a miniature-golf course. Not even the 18th,
that [bleep] 5-foot-high castle where you could see
the chicken wire sticking out. But if you're still skeptical
about Trump's claim that his crappy aquarium
is worth a billion and a half dollars,
don't worry. He's got a crack investigator -- I'm sorry, an investigator
who's head cracked on the case. Rudy Giuliani
did some solid research to prove that Trump's financial
assessment is accurate. -So, I'm down in Mar-a-Lago,
and, yesterday, I went out and I did some shopping,
house shopping. And I found, in about one hour,
seven pieces of property, none of them 1/20
the size of Mar-a-Lago, for over $25 million. -That's right -- Rudy claims he
went out and did some house shopping, which definitely
means multiple people in Florida were calling the police
and saying, "Hi. I'm not sure if this qualifies
as an emergency, but a very strange man
in what are either short pants or long shorts
just asked to buy our house." Of course, when Rudy says
he went house shopping, that means there's a good chance
he went to the Waffle House. "The All-Star Special alone
is worth at least $10 million." Rudy then went on to
claim that -- He even showed
a specific example of one such house on his
so-called live cast. -And I put them on my live cast
last night. I put one particular
one on that the whole house is about half
the size of the main house. Don't count in all the
other houses, the beach house. And, by the way, this house
is four blocks from the ocean and three blocks
from the Intracoastal. And, of course,
Mar-a-Lago is on both. -One, it's very strange
to wear a tuxedo shirt without the rest of the tuxedo. [ Laughter ] The whole time you're
watching it, you're like, "Are you getting
home from a party or are you going to a party? Whose parties do you go to?" Two, Rudy would make
a terrible real-estate agent. The whole time he was talking, I had no clue what the hell
he's talking about. "I found a great place. The whole size is half
the house of the main house, and it's four blocks
from the beach and three blocks
from the Intracoastal. There's 10 bathrooms,
if you count closets, and no closets, because, well, you will not want
to go in there." [ Laughter ] "Now, if you'll excuse me, I either have to put on this bow
tie or take off these pants." Surpri...
[ Laughter ] Surprisingly, Rudy's research
has not solved the case, and, on Wednesday,
Trump's eldest son, Don Jr., was called to testify. At first, he seemed
to be enjoying all the attention
from the cameras while he sat
at the defense table. [ Camera shutters clicking ] -I should have worn makeup. -Needing makeup
is such a TV insider joke. Like, most people don't know
what you're talking about. I get it because I work in TV. I have to wear makeup
whenever I'm on camera, a fact that I took for granted
until I filmed my show from home during COVID
and had to do my own makeup and looked like
I was haunting my own house. I looked healthier
when I actually had COVID. [ Laughter ] But then when it came time
to actually answer questions, Don Jr. seemed
much less forthcoming, even claiming
he had no involvement in preparing financial documents
that he personally signed. -Donald Trump Jr. took the stand
late this afternoon, and he denied having any
involvement in the preparation of the financial statements
in this case. These are the same statements the judge has already found
to be fraudulent. So Trump was asked specifically
about this, his role, if he had any involvement
in the preparation. He said, "I did not.
The accountants worked on that. That's what we pay them for." Now, he was specifically
asked about 2017. That's the year
that he became the trustee of his father's trust
when he became president. And that's the first time
that Donald Trump Jr. signed the statement certifying
that they were accurate. Now, Trump Jr. testified that
he may have provided information to the internal accountants who were working
on these statements, but he said he didn't know
that what he gave them would be used
in the financial statements. -I'm sorry. His testimony
is that he had nothing to do with the financial statements, except when he gave information
to the accountants preparing those
financial statements, but he didn't think they would
use that information in the statements
they were preparing. That's like one of my writers, after a joke of theirs bombs
in the monologue, telling me, "I didn't think
you were gonna use it!" And, by the way, that happens
all the [bleep] time! The amount they blame me!
"Whoa, whoa, whoa! Those aren't
for public consumption!" Also, Don Jr. admits
he signed the statement certifying they were accurate. You don't get to claim
you didn't know what was in it and then just walk away
scot free. That doesn't work
for anyone else. That would be like
John Hancock saying, "Independence from England?
I never agreed to that." If I so much
as check the wrong box when I sign up for cable, I end up with a recurring charge
of $39.99 a month for something called
NFL End Zone +, which is just a webcam
on empty stadiums when their home team
is playing somewhere else. The only people who subscribe
to it are Giants fans because it's their only chance
to see the end zone. [ Laughter ] "Oh, oh! Look! It has
blue grass! That's so cool! I can see why our team doesn't
ever want to step on it." [ Laughter ] Trump is facing four
separate criminal cases and, on top of that,
a civil fraud case that could topple his business and destroy
his personal mythology. He spent decades
claiming he's a billionaire, but as this trial has proven, his net worth
is much closer to... -$2,700. -This has been... You're back!
You're back, Sally! This has been "A Closer Look." [ Cheers and applause ] Hey, everybody. Thanks
for watching "A Closer Look." And as a reminder,
my brother Josh and I have started a new podcast
called "Family Trips
with the Meyers Brothers." We hope you listen. We hope
you like it. And see you soon.
