Brendan McDermid/Reuters, left; Marco Bello/Reuters, right
- Trump's Manhattan civil fraud trial began week 3 on Monday with testimony by a Trump Org finance VP.
- He said CFO Allen Weisselberg told him, "Mr. Trump" wants his net worth numbers to go up each year.
- NY officials say this helps show Trump headed a conspiracy to defraud bankers and insurers.
One of Donald Trump's top finance executives on Monday gave the most powerful testimony yet supporting New York officials' claim that the former president was at the head of a longstanding conspiracy to defraud bankers and insurers about his net worth.
Patrick Birney confirmed a key contention by the New York attorney general's office – and his own earlier sworn deposition – by saying the former president himself told former Trump Organization Chief Financial Officer Allen Weisselberg that he wants his net-worth numbers to "go up" each year.
The testimony is key because it links Trump himself to the widespread fraudulent exaggerations in how Trump valued his properties that have already been proven by Attorney General Letitia James. She has alleged that Trump's statements exaggerated his worth by up to $3.6 billion annually so he could save hundreds of millions in loan interest and insurance costs.
Birney's testimony helps link Trump directly to this push for an ever-fatter bottom line.
"Did Allen Weisselberg ever tell you that Mr. Trump wanted his net worth on the Statements of Financial Condition to go up?" Eric R. Haren, special counsel to James, asked Birney as the morning's testimony drew to a close. It was the final line of questioning in Birney's three days on the witness stand.
"Yes," answered Birney, the Trump Organization's assistant vice president for finance operations.
"Where did that occur, your conversation with Mr. Weisselberg?" the lawyer asked.
"I think that happened in Allen Weisselberg's office," Birney answered.
"And approximately when did that occur?" the lawyer asked.
"Between 2017 and 2019," Birney answered, at which point the lawyer said, "Your honor, I have no other questions" and the finance executive was excused from the witness stand.
New York attorney general's office/Insider
As bombshells go, this one had been well-forecast.
The AG's side mentioned the "Trump likes it to go up" directive in openings, and it's nothing Birney hadn't said before, and in somewhat greater detail, during a court-ordered deposition in the case from earlier this year.
"Allen Weisselberg told me Donald likes to see it go up in that period you just said," meaning 2017 - early 2020, Birney had told the AG's office in his deposition.
"Allen told me that," Birney said then. "He likes it to go up. And 'it' I don't think refers to assets. I think 'it' refers to net worth."
But getting Birney to support in open court this notion that Trump personally directed his finance people toward ever-higher net worths does check an important box for the AG's conspiracy case.
This is especially so since, for reasons they have not explained, the AG's side chose not to question Weisselberg last week about what role any Trump directives played in calculating the former president's bottom line.
Monday marks the start of the third week of testimony in James' $250 million civil fraud trial.
In deciding monetary and other penalties, the judge presiding over the non-jury trial, state Supreme Court Justice Arthur Engoron, must determine if Trump broke specific criminal laws, including conspiracy to falsify business records and to commit banking and insurance fraud.
Trump himself is expected to attend the trial on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. His previous appearances have been met with a limited gag order, and multiple mini-press conferences in the courtroom hallways.
This is a developing story; please check back for more trial updates.