Donald Trump's lawyer has lashed out at the suggestions that a potential key witness in the former president's falsifying business records case may have committed perjury while testifying in the Republican's civil fraud trial.
Attorney Christopher Kise accused the claims made about former longtime Trump Organization chief financial officer Allen Weisselberg as being "much ado about nothing" and an attempt to create a "media frenzy" ahead of Trump's criminal trial where he has pleaded not guilty to 34 charges in relation to hush money paid to adult film star Stormy Daniels.
Weisselberg was recently reported by The New York Times to have been negotiating with a deal with Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg's office where he would plead guilty to perjury for allegedly lying under oath in October while taking the stand in the Trump's civil case. The former president and Weisselberg are accused in New York Attorney General Letitia James' fraud lawsuit of inflating the value of the former president's properties and assets in financial statements for years.
In response, Judge Arthur Engoron, who is overseeing Trump's civil fraud trial, wrote to Trump's lawyers and asked them if they know if Weisselberg is "admitting he lied under oath in my courtroom" during the civil trial proceedings.
Alina Habba, the lawyer representing Weisselberg in the civil fraud case, said she has no information to share as she does not represent him in criminal matters. Kevin Wallace, senior enforcement counsel in James' office, also said his team was not involved in Weisselberg's reported negotiations with the Manhattan district attorney's office but that Weisselberg should be "held to account fully for his actions."
Kise hit out at the suggestions that Weisselberg should be considered an unreliable witness in Trump's upcoming falsifying business records criminal trial in New York, which is currently scheduled to begin in March, over the reports he could plead guilty to perjury in the fraud case.
Kise added that he hopes the court will "set aside manufactured news stories" ahead of the criminal trial.
"This latest much ado about nothing reveals more desperation coupled with a desire to do anything to shift the focus away from [former Trump attorney] Michael Cohen, who admitted to perjury right in front of the Judge at trial," Kise said in a statement to Newsweek.
"Court decisions are supposed to be made based on the evidence at trial, not on media speculation. But realizing they have no actual evidence to support their relentless and unjustifiable pursuit of President Trump, Alvin Bragg and Letitia James have now conspired together to create a media frenzy and use it as support for their claims."
Trump's lawyers have frequently accused Cohen of lying under oath during the civil fraud trial after backtracking under cross-examination from his earlier testimony in which he said Trump specifically told him to increase the value of assets in financial statements.
Weisselberg stopped testifying in October 2023 after a Forbes article alleged he lied under oath while discussing the valuation of the former president's luxury triplex apartment in Manhattan's Trump Tower, which Trump is accused of valuing at $327 million based on claims it was 30,000 square feet in size when it is only 10,996 square feet.
The article suggested that a review of old emails and notes show that Weisselberg allegedly played a "key role in trying to convince Forbes" that the apartment was worth more than it really was for years, despite him claiming in court he never thought about the valuation of the property.
Weisselberg's criminal attorney has been contacted for comment via email.
In her response to Engoron's request for information, Habba accused The New York Times report of Weisselberg's plea deal of being "inadmissible and unsubstantiated" which must not influence the judges perception of Weisselberg's credibility as a witness, or otherwise affect the outcome of the case.
"We urge you to render your decision based solely on the evidence now before you," Habba wrote.
Engoron said he hopes to make a decision on Trump's punishment in the civil fraud case, which could see Trump fined hundreds of millions of dollars and banned from doing business in New York, by mid-February.
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Ewan Palmer is a Newsweek News Reporter based in London, U.K. His focus is reporting on US politics, domestic policy ... Read more
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