Letitia James has put further pressure on Donald Trump regarding his civil fraud case by requesting that certain documents now be examined.
In a letter sent by her office on April 9 to Judge Arthur Engoron, the New York attorney general argued that documents held by Allen Weisselberg, a former executive in the Republican’s real-estate empire, should be examined for possible fraud despite the discovery process and the trial being over, as Weisselberg has since said he committed perjury during the case.
In March, Trump paid a $175 million bond after Engoron ruled that the presumptive 2024 Republican presidential nominee had to pay about $454 million in penalties, with interest, for inflating the value of his assets to obtain more favorable terms from lenders and insurers. The ruling also barred Trump, Weisselberg and Jeff McConney, a former Trump Organization senior vice president, from serving as an officer or director of any corporation in New York for three years. Weisselberg was also ordered to pay $1.1 million.
Trump’s bond amount was later reduced to $175 million by a New York appellate court after his legal team argued that paying the full penalty would be a “practical impossibility.” Trump is appealing the case.
Photo by Megan Briggs/Getty Images
Newsweek has contacted the New York attorney general’s office and a representative for Trump for comment by email.
In March, Weisselberg pleaded guilty to two counts of perjury in the case, saying he lied when he testified that he had little knowledge of how Trump’s Manhattan penthouse was valued on financial statements at three times its size. The triplex apartment was listed as being 30,000 square feet but is closer to 11,000 square feet.
When Forbes magazine disputed the claims and said it had emails showing Weisselberg had tried to convince the publication that the triplex was larger than it was, Weisselberg abruptly ended his testimony.
His sentencing is scheduled for April 10, and he is expected to be sentenced to five months in jail.
The letter from James’ office said Weisselberg’s admission to perjury should be grounds to reexamine the documents. “The Court has inherent authority over any actions that would undermine the integrity of its proceedings,” the letter said.
“Mr. Weisselberg has admitted that he perjured himself during discovery and the trial in this action. The Court is well within its authority to determine if Defendants and their counsel facilitated that perjury by withholding of incriminating documents,” it continued.
“The potential failure to properly produce documents in a legal proceeding relevant to the valuation of Mr. Trump’s triplex plainly falls within the ambit of her authority, and certainly within the power of this Court to safeguard the integrity of its own proceedings,” the letter said.
Meanwhile, a court has rejected the paperwork for Trump’s $175 million bond because it could not verify the financial backing of the insurance company that posted the bond.
The court has given Trump and the insurance company, Knight Specialty Insurance, until April 15 to show financial backing for the bond.
If they do not, James can begin enforcement proceedings against Trump’s properties by seizing his assets.
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