Allen H. Weisselberg, former President Donald J. Trump’s longtime lieutenant, pleaded guilty to felony perjury in a Manhattan courtroom on Monday, the latest twist in his tortured legal odyssey .
Mr. Weisselberg, who for many years remained steadfastly loyal to Mr. Trump in the face of intense prosecutorial pressure, is not expected to implicate his former boss. That unbroken loyalty frustrated prosecutors and once cost him his freedom.
Mr. Weisselberg, who was led into the courtroom in handcuffs, wearing a blue surgical mask and dark suit, admitted that in recent years he had lied under oath to the general’s office. New York attorney general when this agency is investigating Mr. Trump for fraud. Attorney General Letitia James sued Mr. Trump in 2022, accusing him of wildly exaggerating his views. net value to get preferential loans and other benefits.
That civil case recently ended in a judge’s imposition a huge financial penalty for the former president – more than 450 million USD with interest. Mr. Weisselberg, also a defendant, was fined $1 million plus interest and permanently banned from holding a finance position at any New York company.
Although Mr. Weisselberg did not commit a violent crime, prosecutors argued that the perjury undermined the broader ends of justice and could not be ignored. They recommended a five-month sentence for him.
“The harm caused by perjury tears at the fabric of our justice system,” Gary Fishman, one of the prosecutors in the case, said at the plea hearing.
Mr. Weisselberg’s agreement with the Manhattan district attorney, Alvin L. Bragg, came weeks before the former president went on trial on unrelated criminal charges. That case, also brought by Mr. Bragg, stemmed from a hush money payment, made on Mr. Trump’s behalf, to a porn star during the 2016 presidential campaign.
Throughout Mr. Trump’s legal troubles, Mr. Weisselberg was often caught in the middle, facing off against several law enforcement agencies in both civil and criminal trials. As the longtime chief financial officer of the Trump family business – the former president’s trusted moneymaker – Mr. Weisselberg is considered pivotal in the effort to implicate Mr. Trump.
Mr. Weisselberg has been rewarded for his loyalty to the family he has served for nearly half a century: When he left Mr. Trump’s company last year, he was awarded a $2 million severance package, requiring request that you not cooperate with any law enforcement investigation unless legally required.
He also had to pay the price. In 2022, he pleaded guilty in a tax fraud case. Although he did not implicate Mr. Trump, he agreed to testify against the former president’s company, the Trump Organization, at trial on similar charges.
In that case, the company was convicted and Mr. Weisselberg received a five-month prison sentence. With good manners, he Serves nearly 100 days behind bars at the infamous Rikers Island prison complex.
With this latest plea, Mr. Weisselberg now faces another five months of work at Rikers.
Mr. Weisselberg’s plea agreement comes at an inopportune time for the former president, just weeks before he is expected to go on trial on a series of charges against him. falsifying business records regarding a hush money agreement with porn star Stormy Daniels. The trial, the first criminal prosecution of a former president, is expected to begin with jury selection on March 25.
Mr. Bragg has accused Mr. Trump of orchestrating a potential sex scandal involving Ms. Daniels that could affect the outcome of the 2016 election.
Monday’s guilty plea could further strengthen Mr. Bragg’s advantage heading into the trial, preventing other witnesses in Mr. Trump’s circle from taking the stand. Perjury charges can also tarnish credibility Mr. Weisselberg, who disputed the details of the prosecution’s evidence in a case related to the 2016 election.
For his part, Mr. Trump lashed out at Mr. Bragg, a Democrat, accusing him of oppressing Mr. Weisselberg. And Mr. Trump’s allies have lamented that Mr. Weisselberg will have to go to prison again now that he is in his 70s, and countered that he lied in the civil fraud case by Ms. James, a Republican. Other Democrats launched.
Ms. James filed the lawsuit in 2022 and it led to a trial late last year. In February, the judge presiding over the non-jury case sided with the attorney general, concluding that Mr. Trump had manipulated the value of his assets. Judge Arthur F. Engoron imposed a series of far-reaching penalties, including a verdict of more than $450 million.
At the heart of the case — and Mr. Weisselberg’s testimony — is Mr. Trump’s three-story apartment in Trump Tower, which is 10,996 square feet, but has been listed on his annual financial statements for many years as 30,000 square feet. square feet.
Before the trial, in his sworn statement, Mr. Weisselberg downplayed his role in pricing the triplex house.
And on the witness stand at the trial, Mr. Weisselberg affirmed that he “never focused” on the unit.
However, soon after, Forbes magazine, which compiled a list of the richest people in America, published an article Citing emails and notes, Mr. Weisselberg “played a key role in trying to convince Forbes for several years” of the apartment’s value.
Judge Engoron concluded that Mr. Weisselberg was not a reliable witness, in part because his severance agreement was paid out over time, as if to keep Mr. Weisselberg in thrall to the Trump family.
“His testimony in this trial was deliberately evasive, with large gaps of ‘I don’t remember,’” the judge wrote in his decision last month, adding that the severance agreement “makes his testimony highly unreliable.”
“The Trump Organization kept Weisselberg in short check,” the judge wrote. “And it shows.”
