New York City, New York – Former president Donald Trump’s lawyer has raised strong objections to the New York prosecutor who charged Trump with falsifying business records. The lawyer, Todd Blanche, criticized Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg for his handling of the recent civil fraud trial. Blanche warned of “serious” legal and ethical consequences if evidence from Trump’s ex-lawyer, Michael Cohen, is presented in the upcoming criminal trial. Cohen, who also faced accusations of perjury during the civil case, recently pleaded guilty to perjury.
The charges against Trump stem from allegations that he filed fraudulent financial statements for years, inflating the value of his properties and assets. Allen Weisselberg, Trump’s longtime financial adviser, was also named in the lawsuit brought forward by New York Attorney General Letitia James. Weisselberg pleaded guilty to perjury for giving false testimony in the civil proceedings. He had claimed that Trump’s luxury triplex apartment in Manhattan’s Trump Tower was worth $327 million, when in reality it is only 10,996 square feet.
A Forbes magazine article published in October 2023 contradicted Weisselberg’s claim. According to the article, old emails and notes revealed that Weisselberg played a significant role in trying to convince Forbes that the apartment was worth more than it actually was. Weisselberg stopped testifying in the civil case after the publication of the Forbes article.
In his letter to District Attorney Bragg, Trump’s lawyer accused him of “prosecutorial misconduct” for seeking a perjury plea deal for Weisselberg while ignoring similar allegations against Cohen. Trump and his legal team have long accused Cohen of lying under oath. Cohen initially testified that Trump instructed him to increase the value of assets in financial statements, but later backtracked, describing Trump’s instructions as those of “a mob boss.”
Blanche criticized the judge, Arthur Engoron, who oversaw the civil case, for accepting Cohen’s credibility despite his perjury. Blanche wrote that presenting testimony from Cohen in the criminal trial would have serious legal and ethical consequences for the integrity of the proceedings.
The trial against Trump is scheduled to begin on March 25, with allegations that he instructed Cohen to pay adult film star Stormy Daniels to keep their alleged affair a secret before the 2016 election. Cohen is expected to be a key witness for the prosecution in the criminal case, after testifying in the civil case where Engoron ordered Trump to pay a penalty of $454 million.
Weisselberg, who pleaded guilty to perjury, faces up to five months in jail and is due to be sentenced in April. He previously served 100 days of a five-month sentence after pleading guilty to 15 felony charges related to a tax evasion scheme by the Trump Organization.
The response from District Attorney Bragg is yet to be obtained.