Trump legal news brief: Weisselberg pleads guilty to lying during deposition for Trump fraud trial

 


Allen Weisselberg, the former chief financial officer of the Trump Organization, is expected to plead guilty to perjury charges Monday in connection with the testimony he gave during former President Donald Trump's civil fraud trial, according to three sources familiar with the matter.

Weisselberg was not expected to enter into a cooperation agreement with the plea that would require his testimony at any future trial, one source familiar with the matter said. Weisselberg surrendered to the Manhattan district attorney's office Monday morning and is expected to appear in court sometime before 1 p.m., Danielle Filson, the communications director for District Attorney Alvin Bragg, said.

Seth Rosenberg, an attorney for Weisselberg, and Trump lawyer Alina Habba did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

It is unclear what specific charges Weisselberg will plead guilty to. His plea comes after reports that he had been in negotiations to plead guilty to perjury for allegedly lying when he took the stand during Trump's civil fraud trial last year. During his testimony, Weisselberg was grilled about various financial statements he approved.

New York state Judge Arthur Engoron also requested comment on claims that Weisselberg had lied on the stand during Trump's trial, which prompted an attorney for the former president to push back in a filing, saying the request was “unprecedented, inappropriate and troubling.”

This is Weisselberg's second guilty plea. In 2022, he pleaded guilty to multiple tax fraud charges in a 15-year tax fraud scheme at the Trump Organization. He and the company were charged by Bragg's office in that case, and he was sentenced to five months in jail. Two subsidiaries of the Trump Organization were convicted and hit with $1.6 million in fines.

Weisselberg was released from jail after a little over few months with time off for good behavior.

Engoron last month ordered Trump, his adult sons, business associates and the Trump Organization to pay more than $350 million in damages and prohibited the former president from running businesses in New York for three years. Engoron later rejected Trump's request to delay the enforcement of the damages against him. Trump is expected to appeal the ruling.

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