Judge wants answers after report that key witness in Trump fraud trial may plead guilty to perjury
The judge in Donald Trump’s civil fraud trial is demanding more information after a key witness was reported to be in negotiations to plead guilty to a perjury in connection with his testimony in the case
NEW YORK (AP) — The judge in Donald Trump’s civil fraud trial is demanding more information after a key witness was reported to be in negotiations to plead guilty to perjury in connection with his testimony in the lawsuit.
In an email posted to the trial docket Tuesday, Judge Arthur Engoron asked lawyers in the case to provide him with a letter “detailing anything you know” about the situation involving Allen Weisselberg, the former longtime finance chief at Trump’s company, the Trump Organization.
“I do not want to ignore anything in a case of this magnitude,” Engoron wrote, suggesting he may disregard all of Weisselberg’s testimony if he were to admit to lying on the witness stand.
Engoron cited a Feb. 1 report in The New York Times that Weisselberg was in negotiations with the Manhattan district attorney’s office to plead guilty to perjury and “admit that he lied on the witness stand” when he testified at the civil fraud trial in October. The newspaper cited “people with knowledge of the matter.”
