NEW YORK (AP) — Manhattan prosecutors are weighing a possible perjury cost in opposition to Donald Trump’s former company finance chief in reference to testimony he gave in October on the ex-president’s New York civil fraud trial, two folks accustomed to the matter instructed the Related Press.
Allen Weisselberg, who had been the longtime chief monetary officer of the Trump Group, testified for 2 days on the trial, answering questions on allegations that Trump lied about his wealth on monetary statements given to banks and insurance coverage firms.
It wasn’t clear what a part of Weisselberg’s testimony drew the scrutiny of prosecutors within the workplace of Manhattan District Lawyer Alvin Bragg.
A choice on charging Weisselberg didn’t seem imminent. Bragg’s workplace was within the preliminary phases of discussions, internally and with Weisselberg’s authorized crew, the folks mentioned. They might not essentially result in a prison cost. The folks weren’t licensed to talk publicly and did so on situation of anonymity.
Information of a possible perjury cost was first reported by The New York Instances. Messages searching for remark had been left for Weisselberg’s attorneys. Bragg’s workplace declined remark. New York Lawyer Normal Letitia James’ workplace, which introduced the civil lawsuit, additionally declined remark.
Weisselberg served 100 days in jail final 12 months for dodging taxes on $1.7 million in off-the-books compensation from the Trump Group and remains to be on probation.
A brand new cost, with the specter of extra jail time, would upend the 76-year-old’s Florida retirement and will weigh on his fierce allegiance to his outdated boss, who continues to pay his $2 million severance and authorized payments.
The inquiry into the truthfulness of Weisselberg’s testimony within the civil lawsuit is separate from the prison case that Bragg introduced in opposition to Trump final 12 months over allegations that he falsified firm data to cover up hush money payments. That trial is scheduled to start in late March.
Each Bragg and James are Democrats.
Testifying within the civil case, Weisselberg downplayed his involvement in getting ready Trump’s monetary statements, which state attorneys allege inflated the previous president’s wealth by as much as $3.6 billion. Often, he didn’t reply questions clearly, uttering variations of “I don’t keep in mind” or “I don’t recall” greater than 100 instances, in accordance with transcripts.
However Weisselberg was agency in his response on Oct. 10 when a state lawyer requested him about how Trump’s penthouse at Trump Tower got here to be overvalued primarily based on figures itemizing it as thrice its precise measurement, 10,996 sq. ft (1,022 sq. meters).
Weisselberg testified that he didn’t pay a lot thoughts to the residence’s measurement as a result of its worth amounted to a fraction of Trump’s wealth.
“I by no means even thought in regards to the residence. It was de minimis, in my thoughts,” Weisselberg mentioned, utilizing a Latin time period meaning, primarily, too small to care about. “It was not one thing that was that necessary to me when taking a look at a $6 billion, $5 billion web value,” Weisselberg added.
Weisselberg mentioned he discovered of the Trump Tower penthouse measurement discrepancy solely when a Forbes journal reporter pointed it out to him in 2016. He testified that he initially disputed the journal’s findings however mentioned he couldn’t recall whether or not he directed anybody to look into the matter.
“You don’t recall when you did something to substantiate who was proper?” state lawyer Louis Solomon requested.
Weisselberg mentioned he didn’t.
He was nonetheless on the witness stand when Forbes, whose reporters had mentioned the scale disparity with Weisselberg and revealed it publicly in 2017, printed an article on its web site suggesting he had perjured himself.
“Trump’s Longtime CFO Lied, Beneath Oath, About Trump Tower Penthouse,” the article’s headline mentioned. It mentioned outdated emails and notes confirmed that Weisselberg had had in depth discussions with the journal, attempting to persuade its writers that the penthouse was value excess of they thought.
The penthouse gambit was one in every of a number of tips state attorneys say was used to magnify Trump’s web value. A decide declared in September that the monetary statements had been fraudulent, however he has but to rule on different points that had been the topic of the 2½-month trial the place Weisselberg testified.
Weisselberg pleaded responsible in August 2022 to prices he didn’t pay taxes on $1.7 million in company perks, together with a Manhattan residence, Mercedes-Benz automobiles for him and his spouse, and his grandchildren’s college tuition.
He left New York Metropolis’s infamous Rikers Island in April, days after Trump was indicted in his New York hush cash prison case.
Beneath that plea deal, Weisselberg was required to testify as a prosecution witness when the Trump Group was placed on trial for serving to executives evade taxes. He did so rigorously, laying out the details of his personal involvement in evading taxes however taking care to not implicate Trump, telling jurors that his boss was unaware of the scheme.
A Trump Group lawyer, Susan Necheles, instructed the AP final 12 months that “Weisselberg’s testimony at trial was extraordinarily useful to the protection and damage the prosecution.”
In the course of the grand jury investigation final 12 months that led to Trump’s indictment, Bragg’s workplace raised the potential of charging Weisselberg with extra crimes stemming from his a long time managing the Trump Group’s funds.
Prosecutors steered which may convey new prices associated to his involvement in securing surety bonds and property valuations for the Trump Group, alleged conduct that’s the topic of James’ civil lawsuit.
