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A bunch of terrible stuff happened to Jennifer Weisselberg after she ratted on her husband and the Trump Organization to prosecutors

Nov 14, 2023, 11:47 IST
Business Insider
Trump Organization CFO's ex-daughter-in-law Jennifer Weisselberg carries boxes of documents and a laptop giving to prosecutors outside her apartment in Manhattan, New York on April 8, 2021.Jeenah Moon for The Washington Post via Getty Images
  • Jennifer Weisselberg has had a string of bad luck since blowing the whistle on fraud within the Trump Org.
  • The former daughter-in-law of Trump Org CFO Allen Weisselberg lost her kids and home.
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Jennifer Weisselberg was evicted from her home, lost custody of her children, and can't afford a lawyer — and she believes it's all because she blew the whistle on fraud within the Trump Organization, according to a report from The Nation.

Jennifer Weisselberg is the former daughter-in-law of Allen Weisselberg, who served as the chief financial officer for the Trump Organization and was convicted of tax fraud earlier this year.

In conversation with The Nation, Jennifer suggested recent turmoil in her life was retaliation for her cooperation in the fraud convictions against her former father-in-law and the Trump Organization.

She began working with prosecutors in the fraud case against the Trump Organization in 2021, speaking with the media and providing crucial financial documents that led to her former father-in-law's eventual conviction.

During that time, she was also battling an eviction order for her Upper West Side apartment, which Allen Weisselberg had arranged for her after her 2018 divorce from his son, Barry Weisselberg. The couple was also in the middle of a custody battle, she told The Nation.

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Before their divorce, Jennifer Weisselberg and her ex-husband lived for 10 years rent-free in a glamorous Central Park South apartment provided to them as an untaxed perk from the Trump Organization.

The couple were friendly with former President Donald Trump who invited them to his 2017 inauguration and also signed some of the Weisselberg's kids' tuition checks — further evidence of the untaxed compensation normalized within the Trump Organization, prosecutors said in Allen Weisselberg's indictment.

But when Barry Weisselberg filed for divorce, his father put Jennifer Weisselberg up in a new apartment managed by a real estate magnate known to for its frequent evictions, The Nation reported.

Jennifer Weisselberg acknowledged that she struggled to make the $6,050 rent in the new place, especially because many of the perks she was accustomed to in her marriage were not accessible to her in the divorce, she told the outlet.

Eviction proceedings against Jennifer Weisselberg began in October 2020 with Allen Weisselberg listed as her guarantor. But over the next few months — as Jennifer Weisselberg began speaking publicly with the media about the Trump Organization — the lawsuit against Jennifer and Allen Weisselberg shifted, according to The Nation.

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Barry Weisselberg didn't respond to Insider's request for comment. An attorney for Allen Weisselberg also didn't respond to a request for comment.

An attorney for Jennifer Weisselberg's landlord discontinued the New York County Civil Court action against her and Allen in April 2021 and filed new eviction proceedings against just Jennifer alone in state Supreme Court in May, according to the outlet.

She said she struggled to afford lawyers during this period and told The Nation she had to defend herself at times, all the while, her ex-husband's dad was covering his legal costs.

In March 2023, Jennifer Weisselberg signed a settlement agreement to pay back half the rent she owed and move out. She was officially evicted in April of this year, according to the report.

"Barry told me he wants me homeless, without my kids, so I have to go back to Florida," where she's from, she told The Nation.

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All the while, Jennifer Weisselberg has been battling Barry for custody of the couple's two teenagers.

Jennifer Weisselberg previously sought and won a domestic violence protection order against Barry Weisselberg, though it was later vacated, according to The Nation.

He took physical custody of the kids in February 2020 before she began cooperating with lawyers. A psychiatrist ordered to evaluate Jennifer Weisselberg before Barry took the kids found her to "manic psychotic," according to the report, per The Nation. She told the outlet she was taken but not admitted to Bellevue Hospital in Manhattan.

She has since lost all custody and visitation rights with her kids, in addition to her home, the outlet reported.

While there is no evident proof that Jennifer Weisselberg's bad luck is retaliation for her cooperation in the case against the Trump Organization, an unnamed official who worked in the Manhattan DA's office with Jennifer Weisselberg on the cases involving Allen Weisselberg and the Trump Org told The Nation: "It's very credible that they're retaliating against her," while also acknowledging that Jennifer Weisselberg may have been the harbinger of her own bad luck.

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Jennifer Weisselberg told The Nation she believed speaking out against the Trump Organization would help her get her kids back.

Instead, she is still searching for a permanent home.

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