Topline
Emails allegedly including a rash of racist comments and exchanged between Donald Trump Jr. and longtime confidant Gentry Beach could come to light as part of a years-long legal battle involving the Trump scion’s friend and his former hedge fund employer—if a New York judge determines they’re appropriate for the case.
Key Facts
On Thursday, Touradji Capital Management argued before a New York judge that the emails—sent between 2005 and 2008—show that former employee Beach exposed the firm to reputational harm and should therefore be part of the public court record in a potential retrial of the case that spans nearly 15 years, the Wall Street Journal first reported.
According to filings, Beach has sought to redact Trump Jr.’s name from the emails, but Touradji, which has been sued for allegedly withholding tens of millions of dollars in Beach’s pay, argues the redaction requests should be denied because New York law states “neither the potential for embarrassment . . . nor the general desire for privacy” constitute good cause to seal court records.
In one court transcript, Trump Jr. is revealed to have sent an email complaining about a friend “encourag[ing] Mexicans to come to the U.S. and giv[ing] them another excuse to not learn English”—to which Beach replies, “I’m going to park [my son] at the border with a shit pile of ammo”; in another email, Beach allegedly wrote, “Tomorrow night we are having Jews.”
According to WSJ, New York Judge Andrea Masley on Thursday said Beach’s embarrassment over the emails, which his lawyers have acknowledged as “highly inappropriate, shameful [and] inexcusable,” doesn’t preclude them from being made public; a written ruling is expected, but the timing is unclear.
Beach’s attorneys and the Trump Organization did not immediately respond to requests for comment; a search of New York court records shows at least ten requests to seal email documents, with several others at least partially redacted.
Key Background
Arguments over the decade-old emails are only the latest hang-up in the Beach case, which has spanned a retrial and now could go to trial for a third time. New York Supreme Court records show the case originating in 2009, when Beach alleged his boss Paul Touradji failed to pay out profits he promised, threatened to “destroy Beach and his family” and stated he would “have Beach killed if he crossed him.” In 2019, a Manhattan jury found Touradji’s hedge fund owed $45.7 million to Beach and another former employee. However, one year later, an appeals court ordered a new trial, determining Touradji was precluded from presenting evidence that could have helped his case. That new trial ended with a split jury earlier this year, setting the stage for another potential retrial.
Tangent
Beach and Trump Jr. became friends while attending the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School of Business in the late 1990s and have developed close business ties ever since. According to a May court filing, Beach allegedly told Touradji that his friendship with Trump Jr. gave him “access to attractive investment opportunities.” Beach’s longtime hunting buddy also helped raise millions of dollars for Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign, and the Associated Press reports Trump Jr. has said he invested $200,000 in a dry Texas oil well managed by Beach’s father and an undisclosed amount in mining stock with ties to Beach’s uncle—an investment he reportedly lost.
Offensive Emails Among Businessmen, Donald Trump Jr. Spark Fight in Hedge Fund Case (WSJ)
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