New York Attorney General Letitia James doubled down Tuesday on her demand that the judge in former President Donald Trump's $464 million civil fraud trial allow her to investigate him after his former CFO pleaded guilty to perjury, court records show.
The Attorney General's office Tuesday filed a quick reply to Trump and Allen Weisselberg's attorneys sharp rebuttal to her demand for leeway to investigate from Justice Arthur Engoron.
"It is clear that Defendants and their counsel are completely incapable of independently disclosing any impropriety," wrote Senior Enforcement Counsel Kevin Wallace. "Outside certification is the only means to get to the truth."
The filing, first reported by MSNBC legal analyst Lisa Rubin, arrives one day before Weisselberg is expected to face sentencing to perjury counts linked to his testimony in Trump's civil fraud trial.
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"James has doubled down on her request that Judge Engoron investigate why documents that go to the heart of Allen Weisselberg's admitted perjury during the civil fraud trial were not turned over," Rubin explained. "[James is] insisting that any fraud on the court during a concluded trial is nonetheless within the court's power to investigate."
The former president's attorneys have pushed back against this demand, calling it "extraordinary and wholly improper."
Weisselberg pleaded guilty to lying under oath in the course of his testimony during the New York civil fraud trial against Trump.
During that trial, he claimed to have never seriously considered the square footage of Trump Tower, but Forbes turned up emails from years ago in which he was explicitly defending Trump's claims about the area of the property, directly undercutting his claims.
The fraud case centered on Trump's falsification of the value of his properties, for the purposes of manipulating his tax liability and the terms of loans he got from banks. Trump has always maintained he did nothing wrong, but Engoron found him liable for more than $450 million in the case.
Trump is currently appealing that decision, and was allowed by a higher court to have his bond reduced to $175 million while he appeals.
