CFO called out for fudging the value of Trump Tower Penthouse while under oath

During sworn testimony on Tuesday, Allen Weisselberg, longtime chief financial officer of the Trump Organization, did some editing on the fly regarding statements made as to the monetary value of Trump’s penthouse in Trump Tower.

According to Forbes, when Weisselberg fielded questions on the Penthouse being 30,000 square feet — which would put it at a higher value than the 10,996 square feet it actually is — he commented on the inflated numbers in a roundabout way. Per the outlet’s reporting, Weisselberg acknowledged that the 30,000-square-foot figure was wrong, but suggested that he didn’t have much of a hand in that calculation, saying, “I never focused on the triplex, to be honest with you. It was almost de minimis relative to his net worth, so I really didn’t focus on it.” But there is evidence to the contrary.

Reporter Dan Alexander did some digging into this and, apparently, “A review of old emails and notes, some of which the attorney general’s office does not possess, show that Weisselberg absolutely thought about Trump’s apartment—and played a key role in trying to convince Forbes over the course of several years that it was worth more than it really was.”

In their feature on the vacillating fiction of the value of this property, they break down a number of instances where Trump, with Weisselberg by his side, boasted the inflated figures. The following being one of them: 

In 2015, Trump hosted three Forbes journalists inside Trump Tower, with Weisselberg by his side. “This is the entire floor of Trump Tower, just so you know,” Trump said, showing off his penthouse. “Now, this wraps all around the building. All around the elevators. And I have three times three. So there’s like 11,000 feet on a floor. So I have three. So 33,000—and I have the roof.”