Former Trump Organization CFO Allen Weisselberg pleaded guilty to perjury Monday, admitting to lying under oath in the civil fraud trial against former President Donald Trump and his company after a Forbes report first accused the ex-CFO of perjuring himself.
Former Trump Organization Finance Chief Allen Weisselberg (C) attends a hearing in Manhattan ... [+]
Weisselberg was charged with five counts of perjury in the first degree, court records show, and multiple outlets report he pleaded guilty to two counts in court on Monday.
Prosecutors have recommended he be sentenced to five months in prison, according to multiple outlets.
Weisselberg pleaded guilty based on testimony he gave during the civil fraud case—accusing Trump and his associates of fraudulently misstating the value of assets for personal gain—as he claimed under oath he “never focused” on the size of Trump’s Manhattan penthouse and “never even thought about the apartment” when asked why he signed off on financial statements attesting the apartment was larger than it actually is.
The Trump Organization claimed on financial documents that Trump’s triplex was 30,000 feet until Forbes published a piece in May 2017 reporting it is actually substantially smaller at 10,996 feet.
After Weisselberg testified, Forbes published a piece accusing him of lying under oath—citing emails and notes illustrating Weisselberg routinely focused on the size of Trump’s triplex—and the ex-CFO was subsequently pulled off the stand.
This story is breaking and will be updated.