Former Trump Organization chief financial officer Allen Weisselberg’s testimony came to a screeching and unexpected halt Thursday afternoon just hours after a Forbes writer accused him of perjuring himself during an earlier day on the witness stand, The Messenger reports. Weisselberg testified Tuesday that he “never focused” on calculating the square footage of former President Donald Trump’s three-floor penthouse in an effort to distance himself from Trump’s false computation, which sized the property nearly three times greater than its actual square footage.
On Thursday, however, Forbes’ senior editor Dan Alexander reported that emails and reporter notes not currently in the New York attorney general’s possession contradict Weisselberg’s testimony. “Weisselberg absolutely thought about Trump’s apartment—and played a key role in trying to convince Forbes over the course of several years that it was worth more than it really was,” Alexander wrote, adding that considering their discussions continued for years and the ex-CFO was very hands-on, “it defies all logic to think he truly believes what he is now saying in court.”
Hours after the story’s publication, New York Supreme Court Justice Arthur Engoron convened privately with attorneys for both parties in a huddle but details of the discussion remain unknown. Weisselberg was excused for the day shortly after the meeting. A source close to the New York attorney general, who brought the suit against the Trumps, Weisselberg and another company executive, confirmed that her office is looking into Forbes’ report. “Weisselberg testimony seems highly problematic-and the AG elicited evidence of his substantial monetary reasons he may have to tailor his story- he is still owed hundreds of thousands of dollars as part of his agreement with the Trump co,” former Assistant U.S. Attorney Andrew Weissman wrote of the revelation on X, formerly Twitter.