The twists and turns of Donald Trump’s civil fraud trial dropped perjury allegations on one of his top executives.
Lawyers for the New York attorney general’s office are probing accusations that longtime Trump Organization chief financial officer Allen Weisselberg lied on the stand, the New York Daily News reported. In a court filing, the lawyers said they found “likely omissions” in the evidence provided by Trump and his associates in the case.
Weisselberg testified in the civil case last week, claiming that the size and value of Trump’s Fifth Avenue apartment — which Trump claimed was roughly 30,000 square feet — were of no interest to him. But a report this week from Forbes showed a paper trail contradicting Weisselberg’s did care about the Fifth Avenue apartment and even tried to convince Forbes of its inflated value.
“A review of old emails and notes, some of which the attorney general’s office does not possess, show that Weisselberg absolutely thought about Trump’s apartment — and played a key role in trying to convince Forbes over the course of several years that it was worth more than it really was,” the report said.
A lawyer for the AG asked the judge to order the monitor to go through electronic records between August and September 2016 to determine if the defendants failed to hand over all evidence.
Weisselberg last year pleaded guilty to tax fraud charges in the Manhattan District Attorney’s separate probe of the Trump Organization, testifying against the firm. The Trump Organization was fined $1.6 million in the case and Weisselberg was sentenced to 99 days in jail.
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It’s been a dramatic week in Trump’s New York trial. Former Cushman & Wakefield executive director Douglas Larson testified, taking issue with valuations for some of the Trump Organization’s key properties, which were supposedly formulated based on an assessment Larson provided. He denied ever providing an appraisal on behalf of the company for 40 Wall Street in the Financial District.
One of the defendants’ key arguments in the trial — where the defendants stand accused of fraudulently inflating the value of real estate assets on loan and insurance applications — is to demonstrate the subject nature of appraisals.
Judge Arthur Engoron ordered the dissolution of numerous Trump businesses, which the former president’s team is fighting.
— Holden Walter-Warner