After serving more than three months at Rikers Island on tax fraud charges, former Trump Organization CFO Allen Weisselberg will be returning to jail — this time, because of perjury.
On Monday, March 4, Weisseslberg reached a plea deal with prosecutors and agreed to plead guilty to two counts that, according to CNN, are related to a deposition for New York State Attorney General Letitia James' office.
In an article published on March 6, the Daily Beast's Jose Pagliery stresses that Weisselberg's plea deal could have damaging "fallout" for Donald Trump's lawyers — and for the former president himself.
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"Now that former Trump Organization accountant Allen Weisselberg has pleaded guilty to perjury," Pagliery explains, "the lawyers who defended Donald Trump at his bank fraud trial have found themselves in a precarious position: open to accusations that they violated professional ethics for remaining silent while their witness lied in court. Attorneys put their bar licenses at risk if they sit idly by while they know that their witnesses present false testimony under oath."
The reporter continues, "As such, Weisselberg's recent confession presents a unique and personal threat to Trump's hired legal guns, who have already gained an unseemly reputation over their willingness to defend their client's hate-fueled attacks on public officials, attack judges on his behalf, and play delay games by pitting court calendars against each other."
According to Pagliery, the "fallout from Weisselberg’s plea deal" could "be severe for Trump attorneys Alina Habba, Clifford S. Robert, and their colleagues."
Stephen Gillers, a New York University Law School professor, told the Beast that Trump's lawyers were required to take "corrective action" if they knew that Weisselberg lied.
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Bruce Green, who specializes in legal ethics at Fordham University in the Bronx, told the Beast that it is "exceedingly rare for the lawyer to actually know that what the client or witness said under oath was a lie."
Pagliery explains, "Even if Trump's lawyers could successfully defend themselves from professional repercussions, just having to put up a defense could be a big problem for Trump and his attorneys. The former president's legal calendar is already full of court dates and deadlines, and Trump's lawyers — many of whom are working on multiple cases for him — wouldn't have much time to deal with these complaints without it affecting their own schedules and ability to defend themselves."
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Read the Daily Beast's full report at this link (subscription required).
