by The judge overseeing Donald J. Trump’s civil fraud case questioned whether a key witness committed perjury during the former president’s trial, a new court filing shows.
The judge, Arthur F. Engoron, asked Trump’s lawyers to address the veracity of the witness, Allen H. Weisselberg, Trump’s longtime chief financial officer. Weisselberg and Trump are both defendants in the case, which was brought by New York Attorney General Letitia James.
Judge Engoron, who is expected to issue a decision in the bench case this month, cited a recent New York Times article about Mr. Weisselberg’s testimony. The article reported that Mr. Weisselberg, 76, is negotiating a possible deal with the Manhattan district attorney’s office that would require him to plead guilty to perjury based on his testimony.
“Of course, I want to know if Mr. Weisselberg is now changing his tune and is admitting that he lied under oath in my courtroom in this trial,” Judge Engoron wrote to attorneys on both sides of the case in a recent email. made public on Tuesday.
A lawyer representing Trump in the civil case, Christopher M. Kise, declined to comment. A spokeswoman for the attorney general declined to comment, as did a spokeswoman for the Manhattan district attorney’s office. Weisselberg’s attorney, Seth Rosenberg, declined to comment on the negotiations through a spokesman for his firm, Clayman Rosenberg Kirshner & Linder.
The complex situation arises from overlapping criminal and civil cases filed by New York’s two police agencies.
The district attorney, Alvin L. Bragg, has jurisdiction over perjury and other crimes committed in Manhattan. In addition to examining Weisselberg’s testimony in the civil fraud case, Bragg is preparing to take Trump to trial next month on criminal charges stemming from a payment to a porn star to keep him quiet.
In the civil fraud case, Attorney General Ms. James accused Trump, Weisselberg and others of fraudulently inflating the former president’s net worth and is asking the judge to impose a fine of about $370 million. The trial, which lasted a month, took place in the fall.
Mr. Weisselberg was one of more than 40 witnesses. While it is unclear which of his statements might have caught the district attorney’s attention, the attorney general’s office stopped questioning him shortly afterward. Forbes magazine published an article. in which he accused Weisselberg of having lied under oath about his involvement in appraising Trump’s penthouse.
In his email, Judge Engoron asked lawyers for Trump and James to tell him by Wednesday afternoon what they know about the situation and how they would suggest he address it in his final ruling in the civil fraud case.
“I don’t want to ignore anything in a case of this magnitude,” he added, suggesting that he could use the plea negotiations as a reason to disqualify Mr. Weisselberg’s testimony entirely.
Judge Engoron also asked lawyers for both sides whether Mr. Weisselberg’s negotiations should affect the timing of his decision. The judge, who could bar Trump from running his own family business and force him to pay a significant financial penalty, was expected to issue a ruling by Jan. 31.
Bragg’s prosecutors contacted Weisselberg’s lawyers shortly after the trial concluded, launching negotiations over a possible guilty plea, The Times reported last week.
It is unclear whether Weisselberg will agree to plead guilty to felonies or misdemeanors. If he can’t reach a deal with prosecutors, Bragg could try to charge him.
This is not the first time Weisselberg has faced legal jeopardy. In 2022, he pleaded guilty to an unrelated tax fraud case and served about 100 days at the Rikers Island prison complex. The latest negotiations could result in Weisselberg, an elderly man who has committed no violent crimes, going to prison for a second time.
Trump’s legal team has denounced the district attorney’s prolonged pursuit of Weisselberg, calling it a politically motivated effort to attack Trump, who is the front-runner for the Republican presidential nomination. Mr. Bragg, Mrs. James and Judge Engoron are all Democrats.
However, prosecutors often say that perjury must be rooted out wherever it is found to avoid corrupting the criminal justice system. And Weisselberg’s testimony came in a high-profile environment, making him more vulnerable to scrutiny.
