Donald Trump lawyer Alina Habba is under fire for dismissing reports that former Trump Organization chief financial officer Allen Weisselberg was set to plead guilty to perjury charges. Weisselberg, who has been loyal to the former president for decades, faces five months in jail after admitting to making false claims while testifying under oath in Trump’s civil trial.
The perjury charge is thought to have centered on Weisselberg’s insistence that he never attempted to suggest that his former president’s luxury triplex apartment in Manhattan’s Trump Tower was worth $327 million, based on claims it was 30,000 square feet in size when it is only 10,996 square feet. A Forbes article published in October 2023 refuted this claim, stating that a review of old emails and notes revealed that Weisselberg played a “key role in trying to convince” the magazine that the apartment was worth more than it was for years.
In February, Judge Arthur Engoron wrote to the former president’s lawyers, asking if they were aware of a plea deal Weisselberg was making with Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s office, and if they were aware Weisselberg was “admitting he lied under oath in my courtroom” during the civil trial. Habba, who represented both Trump and Weisselberg in the civil trial, declined to comment because she does not represent Weisselberg in legal matters and was “constrained by my professional ethical obligations” from providing any additional information.