Eric Trump to take the stand as Trump fraud trial winds down

Eric Trump will take the stand as a defense witness Wednesday as the $250 million civil fraud case against the Trump family and their company nears its end.

The former president's son, who's largely been running the Trump Organization since his father took office in 2017, will be one of the last witnesses in the case, with his father serving as the final defense witness next week. The former president is also likely to attend the trial Thursday, his attorney Chris Kise told reporters Monday.

Lawyers from New York Attorney General Letitia James' office will put on a brief rebuttal case with two witnesses Tuesday. Each side will then have time to file legal arguments with Judge Arthur Engoron before closing arguments, which are scheduled to take place Jan. 11. Engoron has said he expects to issue a written ruling in the weeks after that.

Engoron's decision has the potential to be disastrous for the Trumps and their company. The attorney general is seeking up to $250 million in damages and the judge already found in a pretrial ruling that Trump had committed repeated acts of fraud and that a number of his New York-based limited liability companies should be dissolved.