The decide overseeing Donald J. Trump’s civil fraud case has questioned whether or not a key witness dedicated perjury through the former president’s trial, a brand new court docket submitting exhibits.
The decide, Arthur F. Engoron, requested Mr. Trump’s legal professionals to handle the truthfulness of the witness, Allen H. Weisselberg, Mr. Trump’s longtime chief monetary officer. Mr. Weisselberg and Mr. Trump are each defendants within the case, which was introduced by the New York legal professional basic, Letitia James.
Justice Engoron, who is predicted to problem a choice within the nonjury case this month, cited a latest New York Instances article about Mr. Weisselberg’s testimony. The article reported that Mr. Weisselberg, 76, is negotiating a possible settlement with the Manhattan district legal professional’s workplace that might require him to plead responsible to perjury for his testimony.
“I after all wish to know whether or not Mr. Weisselberg is now altering his tune, and whether or not he’s admitting he lied below oath in my courtroom at this trial,” Justice Engoron wrote to the legal professionals on each side of the case in a latest e-mail made public on Tuesday.
A lawyer representing Mr. Trump within the civil case, Christopher M. Kise, declined to remark. A spokeswoman for the legal professional basic declined to remark, as did a spokeswoman for the Manhattan district legal professional’s workplace. Mr. Weisselberg’s lawyer, Seth Rosenberg, has declined to touch upon the negotiations via a spokesman for his agency, Clayman Rosenberg Kirshner & Linder.
The complicated scenario stems from overlapping legal and civil circumstances introduced by the 2 New York legislation enforcement businesses.
The district legal professional, Alvin L. Bragg, has jurisdiction over perjury and different crimes dedicated in Manhattan. Along with scrutinizing Mr. Weisselberg’s testimony within the civil fraud case, Mr. Bragg is making ready to place Mr. Trump on trial subsequent month for legal prices stemming from a hush-money cost to a porn star.
Within the civil fraud case, the legal professional basic, Ms. James, accused Mr. Trump, Mr. Weisselberg and others of fraudulently inflating the previous president’s web value and is asking the decide to impose a roughly $370 million penalty. The monthslong trial passed off within the fall.
Mr. Weisselberg was one among greater than 40 witnesses. Whereas it’s unclear which of his statements might need caught the district legal professional’s consideration, he stopped testifying abruptly after Forbes journal revealed an article during which it accused Mr. Weisselberg of getting lied below oath about his involvement in valuing Mr. Trump’s penthouse house.
In his e-mail, Justice Engoron requested legal professionals for Mr. Trump and Ms. James to inform him by Wednesday afternoon what they know concerning the scenario and the way they might recommend he tackle it in his remaining ruling within the civil fraud case.
“I don’t wish to ignore something in a case of this magnitude,” he added, suggesting that he would possibly use the plea negotiations as a motive to disqualify Mr. Weisselberg’s testimony altogether.
Justice Engoron additionally requested the legal professionals on each side whether or not Mr. Weisselberg’s negotiations ought to have an effect on the timing of his determination. The decide, who may bar Mr. Trump from working his circle of relatives enterprise and pressure him to pay a big monetary penalty, had been anticipated to problem a ruling by Jan. 31.
Mr. Bragg’s prosecutors contacted Mr. Weisselberg’s legal professionals quickly after the trial wrapped up, setting in movement the negotiation over a possible plea, The Instances reported final week.
It’s unclear whether or not Mr. Weisselberg will conform to plead to felony or misdemeanor prices. If he can’t strike a cope with prosecutors, Mr. Bragg may search to indict him.
This isn’t the primary time Mr. Weisselberg has confronted authorized jeopardy. In 2022, he pleaded responsible to an unrelated tax fraud case and served about 100 days within the Rikers Island jail complicated. The newest negotiations may end in Mr. Weisselberg, a senior citizen who has dedicated no violent crimes, going to jail for a second time.
Mr. Trump’s authorized workforce has denounced the district legal professional’s long-running pursuit of Mr. Weisselberg, calling it a politically motivated effort to assault Mr. Trump, who’s the front-runner for the Republican presidential nomination. Mr. Bragg, Ms. James and Justice Engoron are all Democrats.
Prosecutors, although, typically say that perjury should be stamped out wherever it’s discovered to keep away from corrupting the legal justice system. And Mr. Weisselberg’s testimony got here in a high-profile setting, making him extra weak to scrutiny.
