New York Attorney General Letitia James' request for an investigation into whether Donald Trump withheld information during his $464 million civil fraud trial is "extraordinary and wholly improper," defense lawyers argued this week.
Allen Weisselberg's new attorney Armen Morian — replacing the officially ousted Alina Habba — teamed up with Trump's attorneys Monday in a new filing contesting James' demand that an court-appointed monitor investigate, court records show.
"Mr. Weisselberg respectfully requests that the Court deny Plaintiff’s extraordinary and wholly improper request, by letter rather than motion practice, to expand the mandate of Justice Barbara Jones," Morian writes.
Trump's lawyer Clifford Robert added, "The NYAG’s astonishing request is an evident play to transform the Monitor into her own special counsel."
James' demand for a closer look at the Trump Organization's financial dealings in the wake of Justice Arthur Engoron's landmark ruling arrived as Weisselberg, the company's former CFO, pleaded guilty to perjury charges linked to testimony in the civil fraud trial.
"We have already raised multiple times the prospect that Defendants have withheld relevant and responsive information," James'letter states. "We ask that the Monitor be directed to investigate certain issues surrounding the recent perjury plea by defendant Allen Weisselberg."
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Trump's and Weisselberg's lawyers argue this demand is unconstitutional and suggest Weisselberg was coerced.
"Counsel for Defendants have no 'knowledge' that Mr. Weisselberg made false statements during the trial; to the contrary, many believe that Mr. Weisselberg only made such admissions because he was being threatened with life in prison," Robert writes.
"Indeed, counsel for Defendants have no more 'knowledge' that Mr. Weisselberg made these purportedly false statements than the Court or any other person who read of his highly publicized guilty plea."
Weisselberg is slated to return to court Wednesday with an expected five-month sentence on two counts of perjury to follow, reports show.
Trump is slated to appear in Manhattan criminal court next week where he faces criminal charges linked to accusations he falsified business records to pay hush money to an adult film star.
He pleaded not guilty to 34 counts.
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