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    Tuesday, May 14, 2024

    Trump’s NYC fraud trial enters third week with ex-president slated to reappear

    Former President Donald Trump speaks during a campaign rally Monday, Oct. 16, 2023, in Clive, Iowa. (AP Photo/Matthew Putney)

    NEW YORK — Donald Trump’s Manhattan fraud trial on Monday entered its third week, with the embattled former president slated to return to catch up on the chunks of testimony he’s missed.

    A source familiar with Trump’s schedule last week told the New York Daily News he plans to reappear at his Manhattan Supreme Court trial on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday after attending the first three days and missing the following ones.

    Trump’s homecoming is no longer expected to coincide with testimony from his fixer-turned-foe Michael Cohen, which would have seen them face to face for the first time since their 2018 fallout, with Cohen’s incoming testimony pushed back due to a medical issue.

    Cohen’s 2019 congressional testimony about Trump exaggerating his bank balance — before he served time for paying off porn star Stormy Daniels at Trump’s behest — sparked state Attorney General Tish James’ case. He said he’s confident Trump will want to be there when he takes the stand.

    “I anticipate appearing as soon as the pain subsides,” Cohen told the Daily News. “When I do testify, I am certain Donald will be in attendance.”

    Since the former president was last in court, Judge Arthur Engoron has heard from a bevy of Trump Organization execs — including his convicted former finance chief, Allen Weisselberg, controller Jeff McConney, and assistant vice president of financial operations, Patrick Birney — who shed light on how the fraudulent financial statements central to the AG’s case came together.

    Before wrapping up on the stand Monday, Birney affirmed that Weisselberg had told him of Trump’s desire to see his value elevated in business deals, boosting the AG’s claim he intended to commit fraud.

    “Did [Weisselberg] ever tell you that Mr. Trump wanted his net worth on his statement of financial condition to go up?” Eric Haren from the AG’s office asked Birney over hearsay objections from Trump lawyers.

    “Yes,” Birney replied, affirming Weisselberg communicated it to him sometime after Trump became president, between 2017 and 2019.

    Engoron has already found Trump and his sons, Eric and Don Jr, Weisselberg and McConney liable — the civil court equivalent of guilty — for submitting bogus numbers to banks and lenders between 2014 and 2021 that inflated his worth some years by up to $2.2 billion.

    At the case on trial, estimated to last through December, the AG seeks to have Engoron find them liable for her remaining six claims, mainly relating to the underlying conspiracy and their intent. She alleges Trump and his crew ballooned the value of his buildings by up to $3.6 billion to illegally profit in loan agreements and land him a top spot on Forbes’ rich list.

    McConney admitted bumping up the price of Trump’s gold-and-glass Manhattan penthouse by $20 million based on his celebrity. Weisselberg testified about telling McConney to tack on a 30% premium to Trump golf courses credited to Trump’s brand.

    And Engoron heard testimony placing the fraudulent statements in Trump’s hands.

    Weisselberg — who served 99 days in jail for tax fraud earlier this year after his conviction in the Manhattan district attorney’s Trump Org case — acknowledged sharing them with Trump before they were finalized.

    Trump denies all allegations of wrongdoing.

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