Getting spanked....

Eric Trump tries to distinguish between financial discussions and the statements at the heart of the case

From CNN's Lauren del Valle, Kara Scannell and Jeremy Herb

Eric Trump has tried to to distinguish between the specific statements of financial condition — the personal financial statements at the heart of the civil case against Donald Trump, his sons, and his company – and general financial records for the company.

Discussing an August 2013 email Eric Trump exchanged with former Trump Organization controller Jeff McConney about project information he needed for Donald Trump's annual financial statement, the former president's son maintained there's a distinction.

"I clearly understand that I sent notes to Jeff McConney, I worked with him almost every day," Eric Trump said.

"What seems to not be registering is the difference between sending things used for financials and sending things used for a statement of financial condition," he said.

He added: "I don't think it ever registered that it was for a personal statement of financial condition. It was a detail that was irrelevant to me."

Assistant Attorney General Andrew Amer played clips from Eric Trump’s recorded deposition in which he repeatedly made assertions that he didn’t know anything about his father’s financial statements and did not recall ever providing asset information to accounting personnel for the annual statements of financial condition. 

The assistant attorney general then asked Eric Trump to concede now at trial that he knew, at the time of the documented exchanges with McConney, a co-defendant, that the information he provided about assets like Seven Springs and the Doral Golf Resort were for his father's financial statements.

Earlier in the trial, McConney testified that Eric Trump directed him to make certain decisions that led to the inflated valuations of several Trump properties.

Thursday, Eric Trump said “it just didn’t register” that the information was for his father’s personal statements of financial condition.