The judge weighing a verdict in the $370 million fraud case against Donald Trump wants to know whether the former Trump Org. CFO Allen Weisselberg lied on the stand during the trial.
Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Arthur Engoron – who is expected to rule in the case against the former president in mid-February – told prosecutors and lawyers for Trump, 77, to call him back on Wednesday about the news that Weisselberg had been here. plea negotiations that require him to admit he lied while testifying.
“As the presiding magistrate, trier of fact, and judge of credibility, I of course want to know if Mr. Weisselberg is now changing his tune, and whether he admits he lied under oath in my courtroom at this hearing,” Engoron wrote in a letter released in the case Tuesday.
Engoron’s concerns came after a Feb. 1 article by the New York Times reported 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 control the fact he lied when testifying in a separate civil case Engoron is overseeing, the Times reported, citing sources familiar with the matter.
“I don’t want to overlook anything in a case of this magnitude,” Engoron said on Tuesday. “Please hand me a … letter detailing anything you know about this matter.”
A Manhattan judge wants to know if the former Trump Org. CFO Allen Weisselberg lied on the witness stand at trial last year. Steven Hirsch A judge asked prosecutors and Donald Trump’s lawyers to respond to allegations that the former Trump Org. CFO Allen Weisselberg lied at trial. Steven Hirsch
Engoron asked the lawyers what they thought the judge should do with the information and whether it should change the timing of his final decision.
Weisselberg, 76, is a co-defendant with his former longtime real estate mogul boss in New York Attorney General Letitia James’ civil case that accuses Trump of lying on annual financial statements for a decade, exaggerating his net worth by billions a year to get better loans and terms. insurance.
One prime example the Attorney General’s Office brought up repeatedly during the trial was that Trump allegedly doubled the square footage of his Trump Tower penthouse to increase its value by $200 million.
Judge Arthur Engoron is expected to issue a decision soon in the $370 million civil fraud trial against Donald Trump, but said he wants more information about Weisselberg’s allegations first. Steven Hirsch for the NYPost
While testifying, Weisselberg tried to downplay the allegedly false assessment, writing it off as a minor mistake.
“I never thought about the apartment,” Weisselberg testified in October. “It’s not a big deal to me when looking at a net worth of $6 billion, $5 billion.”
Weisselberg also said he did not recall whether he reviewed the annual financial statements, at the center of the James case, with Trump before they were filed — and that any review by the one-time CFO was public, “from the 30,000-foot level.”
Trump has been accused of exaggerating his net worth by billions a year on financial statements to get better loan terms. Steven Hirsch
The non-jury trial ended after three months of testimony in January, and Engoron was left to determine how much Trump should be punished financially, if at all.
Trump has denied the allegations and claimed he was targeted as part of a political witch hunt against him.
Weisselberg was a key witness in a separate Manhattan criminal trial against the family’s real estate company that ended in a guilty verdict and a $1.6 million fine in January 2023.
Weisselberg served prison time after accepting a previous plea deal. Getty Images
Weisselberg pleaded guilty in a previous case to tax fraud and served a short stint in prison in April for it.
If plea negotiations fail with the DA’s Office, Weisselberg could face charges.
A trial is scheduled to begin March 25 in District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s “hush money” case against Trump.
The attorney general’s office declined to comment, while attorneys for Trump did not immediately return requests for comment Tuesday afternoon. The Attorney General’s Office declined to comment.
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
