The New York attorney general’s office and lawyers for Donald Trump agree on one thing: they want the judge overseeing the former president’s civil fraud trial to issue his decision despite a possible perjury deal involving former Trump lieutenant Allen Weisselberg.
Last week, CNN and other news organizations reported that Weisselberg, the former chief financial officer of the Trump Organization, is in talks with the Manhattan district attorney’s office to potentially plead guilty to a perjury charge related to his testimony as part of the attorney general’s fraud investigation.
The information prompted Judge Arthur Engoron to ask the lawyers for Trump and the attorney general’s office whether he should consider the possible perjury admission and if it should impact the timing of his decision, which is expected this month.
Trump’s attorneys say it’s inappropriate for the judge to consider news reports about a potential perjury charge, while the state lawyers say they don’t think the criminal investigation should delay the judge’s decision in this case. The attorney general’s office is seeking $370 million as the result of improper gains and to ban Trump from doing business in the state.
Attorneys representing the defendants in the case said it was “unprecedented, inappropriate and troubling” for the judge to inquire of the parties about Weisselberg’s plea talks and it should not be considered because it was not evidence put before the judge during the trial.
“The only evidence that the Court can consider in rendering its decision is that adduced during the trial,” wrote Cliff Robert, an attorney for the Trumps and Trump properties. “Consideration by the factfinder of matters outside the record, especially speculative news accounts, is simply improper and calls into…
Read the full article here
Leave a Reply