The judge in Donald Trump’s New York fraud trial may be delaying his verdict after hearing that a Trump executive is willing to admit he gave perjured evidence, a former federal prosecutor has said.
Judge Arthur Engoron was supposed to deliver his verdict by the end of January but has delayed its release by at least a week.
The New York Times reported on February 1 that Trump’s former chief financial officer, Allen Weisselberg, is negotiating a plea deal after allegedly admitting that he lied in his testimony before Engoron.
If true, Weisselberg’s admission could have a major influence on Engoron’s judgment. The New York Attorney General, Letitia James, has asked Engoron to ban Trump for life from the real estate industry, strip his companies of their right to trade and impose hundreds of millions of dollars in fines.
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Newsweek sought email comment on Sunday from attorneys for Trump and Weisselberg.
Attorney Andrew Weissmann, who spent 20 years as a federal prosecutor, said that Engoron may be delaying his verdict because of the Weisselberg revelation.
“Why has Judge Engoron not issued his decision on the Trump civil fraud? One reason could well be the news that the Trump chief financial officer may be pleading to lying to Judge Engoron in a way to help Trump. And the Judge is waiting for that to support his decision against [Trump],” Weissman wrote on X, formerly Twitter, on Friday.
Weissman is the co-host of MSNBC podcast Prosecuting Donald Trump.
In September, Engoron issued a partial summary judgment in the case brought by James, ruling that Trump and top executives at the Trump Organization had committed fraud. Engoron held that Trump grossly inflated the value of his assets to obtain more favorable terms from lenders and insurers.
Engoron will rule on how much the frontrunner for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination will have to pay in damages, and on six other accusations—including falsifying business records, insurance fraud and conspiracy claims. James is seeking the return of $370 million in profits Trump made.
The trial ended on January 11, when Engoron said he hoped to hand down a ruling by January 31, but that has been delayed without a new judgment date.
The New York Times reported on Thursday that Weisselberg is negotiating a plea deal with the Manhattan district attorney’s office. Weisselberg would plead guilty to perjury, admitting that he lied during his testimony in Trump’s civil fraud trial and during an interview with James’ office.
Another twist in the case that may factor into Engoron’s delayed ruling occurred when Barbara Jones, a former federal judge, submitted a report to Engoron in late January. Jones, who acted as a monitor overseeing Trump’s companies, said that the former president didn’t disclose payments of more than $40 million to himself, undervalued the annual management costs of the Trump building by $1.6 million, and waited eight months to disclose the dissolution of some of his companies.
“Absent steps to address the items above, my observations suggest misstatements and errors may continue to occur, which could result in incorrect or inaccurate reporting of financial information to third parties,” Jones warned in the report.
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