As Donald Trump’s hush money trial nears its conclusion, many have noted that Allen Weisselberg, the former chief financial officer of the Trump Organization, never testified.
Final arguments in the case will come Tuesday. Trump posted an angry missive to Judge Juan Merchán on Truth Social on Monday.
Weisselberg, 76, who is currently serving a five-month prison sentence at Rikers’ Island in New York after pleading guilty to perjury in a separate civil case, was allegedly in the room when Trump planned a $420,000 payout. to intermediary Michael Cohen.
However, the same perjury conviction that lands Weisselberg his second stint behind bars is the reason prosecutors did not call him to the stand at any point during the trial.
The loyal Trump executive, who worked for the family for 50 years, was found guilty last month of lying under oath. He had told the court that he did not know how Trump’s Manhattan penthouse ended up listed three times its actual size on the company’s financial statements.
As Donald Trump’s hush money trial nears its conclusion, many have noted that the Trump Organization’s former chief financial officer, Allen Weisselberg, never testified.
Trump’s lawyers are expected to make Weisselberg’s absence a key part of their closing statement.
He New York Times reports his argument that he would be the only person who could confirm the meeting between Trump and Cohen in 2017, with Cohen being an unreliable and resentful narrator against Trump.
Prosecutors have tried for years to get Weisselberg to betray Trump, but he is apparently so loyal that prosecutors didn’t even bother to contact his legal team before the trial.
They doubted that, given Weisselberg’s convictions for perjury and loyalty to Trump, he would tell the truth on the stand and that the jury would believe him even if he did.
Judge Merchan even, at one point in the case, asked both parties if they had attempted to get him to testify, and both responded no.
“The reason Mr. Weisselberg is not a witness for either party is because the district attorney’s office initiated a perjury prosecution in the lead-up to this case,” Trump attorney Emil Bove said at the time. .
However, Weisselberg appeared several times during the trial and Cohen said he was part of the decision to pay Daniels.
‘He told me that he had talked to some friends, some individuals, very smart people, and it’s $130,000. You’re like a billionaire. Just pay it. There’s no reason to keep this out there. So do it,’ Cohen said.
Weisselberg, 76, who is currently serving a five-month prison sentence at Rikers’ Island in New York after pleading guilty to perjury in a separate civil case, was allegedly in the room when Trump planned a $420,000 payout. to intermediary Michael Cohen.
The loyal Trump executive, who worked for the family for 50 years, was found guilty last month of lying under oath. He had told the court that he did not know how Trump’s Manhattan penthouse ended up listed three times its actual size on the company’s financial statements.
‘And he expressed to me: Just do it. Go meet with Allen Weisselberg and resolve this whole matter,” he added.
Jeffrey McConney, former comptroller of the Trump Organization, could not verify that Weisselberg was in the room for the payment agreement, but testified about working with Weisselberg to set up payments to Cohen, including repayment of the $130,000 payment to Daniels, a bonus and money for taxes.
Deborah Tarasoff, the Trump Organization’s accounts payable supervisor, testified about the processing of payments to Cohen, including receiving checks that Trump had signed at the White House.
During cross-examination by the defense, he acknowledged that the permission to cut Cohen’s checks came not from Trump himself, but from Weisselberg and McConney.
Meanwhile, Trump dedicated a portion of his Memorial Day post to Truth Social, asking why Judge Merchan would not allow Mark Pomerantz to testify.
Pomerantz, a former top prosecutor in the Manhattan district attorney’s office who investigated Trump’s business dealings, has said the former president ran “an empire built on lies.”
—Could someone ask Judge Merchan what happened to MARK POMERANTZ, the man Alvin Bragg was furious with for the things he did in this contrived and unconstitutional case, and why he wasn’t allowed to testify?
Trump also wanted to know why Merchan “shut down” election expert Brad Smith and Bob Costello.
Trump dedicated a portion of his Memorial Day post to Truth Social, asking why Judge Merchan would not allow Mark Pomerantz to testify.
‘And then, of course, there is the BIGGEST EVENT OF ALL, but I am not allowed to talk about it because I am under an illegal and unconstitutional GAG ORDER. This is the Biden White House in action. ELECTORAL INTERFERENCE!’
Closing arguments will begin Tuesday morning as the case comes to a close nearly six grueling weeks later.
Prosecutors have a high bar to meet to convince a 12-person New York jury that Trump conspired to help his 2016 election campaign by paying porn star Stormy Daniels $130,000 to keep quiet about their alleged sexual encounters. .
Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s team will gather all the evidence and witness testimony they say is enough to charge Trump with 34 felony counts of “falsifying business records.”
After testimony from 22 witnesses, some salacious and some boring, and pages of documents and evidence, it all comes down to whether the prosecution or defense has made its case better.
Trump’s legal team is expected to present a strong defense of the former president, distancing him from Cohen’s payments to Stormy Daniels.
They will also reiterate several of their strongest points, that hush money payments are not illegal and that Trump only wanted to avoid his family’s humiliation over Stormy’s alleged affair claims.
Closing arguments will begin Tuesday morning as the case comes to a close nearly six grueling weeks later.
Trump’s legal team is expected to present a strong defense of the former president, distancing him from Cohen’s payments to Stormy Daniels.
Perhaps the strongest strategy Trump’s team will employ is to attack the credibility of the prosecution’s “star witness,” Michael Cohen.
The defense only needs to convince one jury out of 12 in total that there is insufficient evidence “beyond a reasonable doubt” to prove Trump is guilty of giving the former president a victory in the case.
If at least one person resists convicting Trump, the judge would declare a “hung jury,” triggering a mistrial.
The outcome of the case could be resolved in three ways: acquittal, conviction or mistrial.
If Trump is found guilty, his team will likely begin the appeals process, which could take years.
Trump, if convicted, is unlikely to be sentenced before the 2024 election in November.