Judge Arthur Engoron gives lawyers for the state of New York and the defense in the $370 million civil financial fraud trial until 5 p.m. ET on Wednesday to detail what they know about former Trump Organization CFO Allen Weisselberg’s apparent negotiations to plead guilty to committing perjury during the trial. In the Georgia election interference case, 17 ethics experts, former prosecutors and defense attorneys file a legal brief with Judge Scott McAfee in which they argue that a sexual relationship between Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis and lead prosecutor Nathan Wade does not constitute an ethical conflict in the case. Here are the latest legal developments surrounding the former president looking to be reelected in 2024.
New York financial fraud
Judge gives lawyers Wednesday deadline to explain whether key Trump witness committed perjury
Key players: Judge Arthur Engoron, former Trump Organization CFO Allen Weisselberg, New York Attorney General Letitia James
Engoron set a Wednesday deadline of 5 p.m. ET for lawyers in the case to detail their knowledge of a New York Times report that Weisselberg had entered into negotiations with the Manhattan district attorney to plead guilty to committing perjury on the witness stand during Donald Trump’s financial fraud trial, Bloomberg reported.
“I of course want to know whether Mr. Weisselberg is now changing his tune, and whether he is admitting he lied under oath in my courtroom at this trial. Although the [New York] Times article focuses on the size of the Trump Tower penthouse, his testimony on other topics could also be called into question,” Engoron wrote in a Monday email to the trial lawyers.
Weisselberg had testified on behalf of Trump and the other defendants that he “never focused” on the valuation of Trump’s triplex apartment in Trump Tower. But that testimony was shown to be false.
Engoron said in his email that he may find that none of Weisselberg’s testimony during the case had been credible.
Weisselberg’s apparent perjury negotiations are one possible reason Engoron has delayed issuing his final verdict in the case.
Why it matters: Letitia James is asking Engoron to fine the defendants $370 million in damages and issue a ban on the Trump Organization doing business in the state. Weisselberg, who has already served prison time for tax fraud, was a key defense witness. If he pleads guilty to having lied under oath, it will further damage Trump’s case.
Georgia election interference
Fani Willis should not be disqualified from handling Trump case, ethics experts say in brief to judge
Key players: Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis, Judge Scott McAfee, lead prosecutor Nathan Wade, Trump co-defendant Michael Roman
Seventeen ethics experts, former prosecutors and defense attorneys filed a brief late Monday in which they argued that Willis’ alleged romantic relationship with Wade should not disqualify her from proceeding with the prosecution of Trump and 14 others charged in connection with their efforts to unlawfully overturn the 2020 presidential election results in Georgia, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported.
In their brief, the experts wrote: “Disqualifying conflicts occur when a prosecutor’s previous representation of a defendant gives the prosecutor forbidden access to confidential information about the defendant or a conflict otherwise directly impacts fairness and due process owed a defendant. That kind of conflict is not at issue here.”
Roman, Trump and three other defendants in the case have argued that Willis’s relationship with Wade constitutes a conflict of interest and that she should be removed from the case.
In a filing to McAfee last week, Willis acknowledged her relationship with Wade, but denied that it represented a conflict since the two do not share finances, do not cohabitate, and began their relationship after Willis had hired him to lead the case against Trump and the other co-defendants.
McAfee…
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