Trump judge in $370M fraud case wants to know if ex-Trump Org. CFO Allen Weisselberg lied on the stand
The judge weighing a verdict in the $370 million fraud case against Donald Trump wants to know if ex-Trump Org. CFO Allen Weisselberg lied on the stand during trial.
Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Arthur Engoron — who is expected to issue a ruling in the case against the former president sometime by mid-February — told prosecutors and lawyers for Trump, 77, to get back to him by Wednesday about news that Weisselberg has been in plea negotiations that will require him to admit he lied during testimony.
“As the presiding magistrate, the trier of fact, and the judge of credibility, I of course want to know whether
Mr. Weisselberg is now changing his tune, and whether he is admitting he lied under oath in my courtroom at this trial,” Engoron wrote in a letter posted in the case Tuesday.
Engoron’s concerns emerged after a Feb. 1 article by the New York Times reporting that Weisselberg was in talks with the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office to take a plea deal in a criminal case that would require him to cop to the fact he lied when he testified in the separate civil case Engoron is overseeing, the Times reported, citing sources familiar with the matter.
“I do not want to ignore anything in a case of this magnitude,” Engoron said Tuesday. “Please submit … a letter to me detailing anything you know about this.”
Engoron asked the lawyers what they think the judge should do with the information and whether it should change the timing of his final decision.
Weisselberg, 76, is a defendant alongside his longtime former real estate tycoon boss in New York Attorney General Letitia James’ civil case accusing Trump of lying on yearly financial statements for a decade, exaggerating his net worth by billions a year to get better loan and insurance terms.
One key example the AG’s Office repeatedly raised at trial was that Trump allegedly tripled the square footage of his Trump Tower penthouse to pump up its value by as much as $200 million.
During testimony, Weisselberg attempted to downplay the alleged false valuation, writing it off as a minor mistake.
“I never even thought about the apartment,” Weisselberg testified in October. “It was not something that was that important to me when looking at a $6 billion, $5 billion net worth.”
Weisselberg also said he didn’t remember whether he went over the annual financial statements, at the heart of James’ case, with Trump before they were filed — and any review the one-time CFO did was general, “from a 30,000-foot level.”
The non-jury trial ended after three months of testimony in January, and Engoron is left to determine how much Trump should be financially penalized, if at all.
Trump has denied the allegations and has claimed he’s being targeted as part of a political witch hunt against him.
Weisselberg was a key witness at a separate Manhattan criminal trial against the family real estate company that ended with a guilty verdict and a $1.6 million fine in January 2023.
Weisselberg pleaded guilty in the prior case to tax fraud and did a short stint in jail in April for it.
If the plea negotiations fall through with the DA’s Office, Weisselberg could face indictment.
The trial is slated to begin March 25 in District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s “hush money” case against Trump.
The AG’s Office declined to comment, while lawyers for Trump didn’t immediately return a request for comment Tuesday afternoon. The AG’s Office declined to comment.
