- Donald Trump's ex-CFO is the key DA witness in the Trump Organization tax-fraud trial in Manhattan.
- In testimony that actually helps the defense, he teared up describing his "betrayal" of Trump.
During a blistering cross-examination Thursday, Donald Trump's ex-CFO — the Trump Organization tax-fraud trial's most important witness — teared up on the witness stand while describing his "betrayal" of the Trump family.
"Did you honor the trust that was placed in you?" Alan Futerfas, a Trump Org defense lawyer, asked the wistful witness in a courtroom in Manhattan.
The company's ex-CFO, Allen Weisselberg, had just finished describing on the witness stand his decadeslong relationship with the real-estate company he joined in 1973, back when Trump's father, Fred Trump, ran it in Brooklyn.
Trump Org was "family," Weisselberg had just told jurors.
He'd known Trump's now-adult eldest children "Don Jr.," "Ivanka," and "Eric" — all of them past or present executive vice presidents at the company — from when they were in elementary school.
On honoring the Trumps' trust, Weisselberg's eyes got misty and his voice began to quaver.
"I did not," he answered.
"Did you betray the trust that was placed in you?"
"I did," he answered.
"And you did it for your own personal gain?"
"Correct," Weisselberg answered.
All of the above — the admission of betrayal, the evident emotion — is a win for the Trump Organization.
Weisselberg, 75, is the Manhattan district attorney's witness, testifying about his admitted role in a 15-year executive tax-dodge scheme in hopes of keeping a low-jail plea deal.
But his loyalties are also with Trump and the company, he and his lawyers have made clear.
Any testimony that separates Weisselberg's own admitted tax frauds from the Trumps at the top of the company ladder helps the defense.
Emotional testimony, especially, may stick with jurors.
"Are you embarrassed by what you did?" Futerfas asked Weisselberg.
"More than you can imagine," he answered.
"Ashamed?"
"Yes, very much so," he answered.
"Are you OK?" the lawyer asked. "Do you need a break?"
An early lunch break was called.
Trump's real-estate and golf-resort empire is on trial, not Trump himself.
The company faces a possible maximum of $1.6 million in penalties.
But prosecutors must prove that Weisselberg intended to benefit the company, not just himself, when he and the company controller, Jeffrey McConney, hid millions of dollars in tax-free corporate benefits from tax authorities over the course of 15 years.
On this point, too, Weisselberg helped the lawyers for his "family" while on the stand.
"Did you conspire with Mr. McConney?" Futerfas asked Weisselberg in earlier testimony Thursday.
"Yes," Weisselberg answered.
"Did you conspire with any member of the Trump family?" Futerfas asked.
"No," Weisselberg answered.
"Did you scheme with Mr. McConney?" the lawyer asked.
"No," Weisselberg answered.
Later, Futerfas asked straight out if Weisselberg intended to benefit the company, or anyone besides himself.
"Your sole purpose was to get pre-tax dollars?" the lawyer asked.
"Correct," Weisselberg answered.
The trial, now in its fourth week, is roughly at its half-way point. Weisselberg's testimony is expected to last through this week and possibly into next.