In his own closing, Assistant District Attorney Joshua Steinglass told the jury that “this whole narrative that Donald Trump is blissfully ignorant is just not real” and that the two Trump companies could be held criminally liable for Weisselberg’s actions, including tuition for his grandchildren at a Manhattan private school.
To reach their verdict, the jurors had to consider the complex language of a decades-old New York law and determine whether Weisselberg, for example, not only broke the law but did so while acting “within the scope of his or her employment and in behalf of the corporation.”
Weisselberg told the jurors he began as an accountant for Trump’s father, Fred, in 1973 before joining Donald Trump’s company in 1986. He grew emotional when asked, on cross-examination, whether he had lived up to the trust the Trump Organization had placed in him.
‘Are You Embarrassed?’
“Did you betray that trust?” asked Alan Futerfas, a lawyer for Trump Payroll Corp.
“Yes,” Weisselberg said.
“And you did it for your own personal gain?” Futerfas asked.
“Correct,” Weisselberg said.
“Are you embarrassed by what you did?” Futerfas pressed.
“More than you can imagine,” Weisselberg said, his voice cracking.
The case is People v. Trump Organization, 01473-2021, New York State Supreme Court (Manhattan).
—With assistance from Zijia Song.
This article was provided by Bloomberg News.