New York, New York - Donald Trump's two adult sons are expected to begin taking the witness stand this week in the civil trial for financial fraud that threatens to deal a heavy blow to his business empire.

If all goes according to the court schedule, Donald Trump Jr. will take the stand on Wednesday, followed on Thursday his younger brother, Eric.

Both are executive vice presidents of the Trump Organization. New York Attorney General Letitia James accuses the brothers – and their father – of fraudulently inflating the value of the group's assets by billions of dollars to obtain more favorable bank loans and insurance deals.

If the trial advances on schedule, ex-president Trump will be questioned next Monday, a day shy of one year before the November 5, 2024 presidential election that he hopes will sweep him back into the White House.

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Ivanka Trump, who left the Trump Organization in 2017 to join the White House as an advisor to her father, will follow two days later. She is not the target of the lawsuits.

Trump's lawyers assert that the group's assets, such as Trump Tower or the building at 40 Wall Street, had no objective value and that subjective valuations were sincere, and that banks did not lose any money by lending to the Trump Organization.

For his part, Trump keeps railing without evidence against a "rigged" trial conducted by a "corrupt" state attorney and a "rogue" judge, Arthur Engoron, in the pay of Democrats to prevent him from returning to the White House. He launched another social media attack early Wednesday morning, despite being under a partial gag order.

"Leave my children alone, Engoron. You are a disgrace to the legal profession!" Trump wrote.

Engoron has already fined the Republican Party's 2024 frontrunner $5,000 and $10,000 for violating the order.