Engoron’s Email Re: Weisselberg Perjury Is Seismic Event, the Bragg Case Just Went South For Trump

Sometimes no news is bad news. The silence from Justice Arthur Engoron regarding the verdict on the Trump Organization fraud trial has been greeted with disappointment. People were hoping to hear from the judge on January 31st and see that he had thrown the book at Donald Trump. But critics said, “wait. Engoron’s got a reason for delay.” One of the reasons cited was the possible discovery of a $48 million payment which Trump mischaracterized as a loan from one business entity of his to another, when in fact it appears to be profit that he simply pocketed and did not pay income tax on. And in point of fact, that loan, unearthed by special monitor Barbara Jones, may impact the eventual verdict that Engoron will render.

But meantime, lo and behold, another issue has reared its ugly head, much like the Loch Ness monster of lore. Look at what has just come out of Lake Trump.

Isn’t that something? This is Joyce Vance’s take:

The Judge wants the details—the full scope of Weisselberg’s perjury—which seems reasonable since they bear on the case he’s in the process of deciding. The Times article is focused on lies about the size of Trump’s Manhattan penthouse. That’s because, as Dan Alexander at Forbes wrote after Weisselberg testified in the case that he’d never paid attention to the square footage of the Trump Tower apartment, Forbes had the receipts. Weisselberg had been involved in lobbying them over time for Trump’s inclusion on their billionaire’s list, using his aggressive valuation of the apartment based on fake numbers. In other words, he perjured himself when he testified. According to The New York Times, the Manhattan DA began looking at potential perjury charges shortly after the Forbes story dropped.

Recognizing that he may not be entitled to information about a pending criminal investigation, the Judge nonetheless asks the parties for information they can share, as well as for their assessment of how he should proceed in light of this revelation. Will he delay his final decision until the plea deal, if there’s going to be one, is concluded? Or will his action nudge the plea deal towards a speedier conclusion? As the Judge notes, perjury cases are serious matters to prosecutors.

They cut to the heart of our legal system, which is charged with determining the truth and holding people accountable. If an Allen Weisselberg tries to interfere with that, prosecutors are obligated to pursue it (and other potential witnesses should take note). And it’s easy to see why Judge Engoron would have serious questions about whether he can rely on any of Weisselberg’s testimony and how that might impact the outcome of the case, since Weisselberg testified on Trump’s behalf. Weisselberg is an individual defendant in the case. The lawsuit includes allegations he reverse-engineered Trump’s financial statements to meet Trump’s demands about his net worth and signed off on valuations of assets that were contrary to the value assigned by appraisals.

Now this is where it gets good. Pay close attention to this.

Weisselberg could have had value to prosecutors had he cooperated, fully and truthfully, early on. But he didn’t. He ended up in prison for crimes that he might have testified against Trump in connection with. But he remained loyal and left the Trump Organization last year with a $2 million severance and an unusual deal that required him to avoid cooperating with prosecutors against the Trump’s unless compelled to do so by subpoena—a provision that would seem to be of dubious enforceability.

Just in an informal straw poll with a few legal types of my acquaintance, Vance is spot on. The “unusual deal” is going to be worth the toilet paper it’s written on.

There’s no indication as of yet that this possible deal signals any new move towards truth-telling by Trump’s man. Although perjury charges could be brought as a felony that carries up to seven years in custody, several prosecutors told me this type of charge in New York could also be handled as a misdemeanor, which carries a punishment of less than a year in jail.

But even if Weisselberg doesn’t come clean, a perjury conviction would make him a tainted witness if he were to take the stand in Trump’s defense at the upcoming criminal prosecution by the Manhattan DA’s office, currently scheduled for late March. It’s hard to imagine the lawyer willing to put a witness who just pled guilty to lying in court to try and protect Trump on the witness stand to testify in his defense. Prosecutors would be entitled to put the whole story on display. What jury wouldn’t get that message?

And this is the way something like that is handled. Weisselberg is useless as a witness if he’s found guilty of perjury. The worst thing that Trumps’ lawyers could possibly do is put him on the stand as a witness. This puts a different spin altogether on the hush money trial. Before this development, the hush money trial was considered the weakest of Trump’s four trials. But now, with ex-con CFO Weisselberg being prevented from testifying on Trump’s behalf, assuming that’s the way it goes, the entire case could go a different direction.

What I’m looking for next is to see who bails. I’m wondering which of the lawyers that Justice Engoron wrote this email to are going to be the same lawyers that stay on Team Trump or decide to go the way of Tim Parlatore or Joe Tacopina, and jump ship?

Keep an eye out, maties. The water may soon be filled with Trump lawyers, swimming for shore. Or, maybe they’ll all stay on board as long as the checks are clearing the bank. There’s the old saying, in for a penny, in for a pound. If they can keep raking in fees until the Trumptanic actually splits apart and sinks, then that might be a road worth pursuing.

Meanwhile, Trump’s still mewling about presidential immunity on Truth Social. No reaction to this so far. At least none that we know, ask the ketchup bottles. They probably know more.