Former Trump Org. executive throws CFO Allen Weisselberg under the bus on condo appraisal
Donald Trump's defense lawyers rested their case on Tuesday after their expert witness finished his testimony. What followed was the attorney general's prosecutors using a former Trump Organization employee to debunk the expert.
Eli Bartov, a professor at NYU, was tasked with testifying as the expert witness on behalf of Trump's team.
Kevin Sneddon, a former senior vice president and managing director at Trump International Realty, was called in to serve as a rebuttal witness for Bartov, speaking not just to the abstract understanding as a real estate broker, but having worked directly for Trump.
Transcribing the goings on in the trial, Law 360 crime reporter Stewart Bishop revealed that Sneddon was tasked with evaluating the Trump Tower triplex condo.
Sneddon recalled a call from former Trump Organization CFO Allen Weisselberg.
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"As we've heard many times, for a time it was erroneously valued based on 30,000 square footage when it was actually less than 11,000 square feet," explained prosecutor Colleen Faherty.
Trump's lawyer quickly objected to the line of questioning.
“This subject matter was covered when they called Mr. McConney and Mr. Weisselberg during their case," Trump lawyer Chris Kise told the judge. He argued they should have called Sneddon at that time.
“At no time was Mr. McConney asked [in the AG's case] where he got that square footage from and who calculated it,” Andrew Amer of the AG’s office replied to the objection.
The judge allowed prosecutors to proceed.
McConney was the former Trump Org. executive who burst into tears while testifying when he appeared in court before Thanksgiving.
"I figured he knew the property a lot better than I did," McConney reportedly testified. “I would rely on him.”
Sneddon confessed that he wasn't certain where the 30,000 square feet number came from. Prosecutors refreshed him, handing him an email between McConney and Sneddon from 2012. Sneddon said in the email that Weisselberg was the one who asked for the evaluation.
“He called me on the phone and asked me if I could give him a rough market value of the triplex,” Sneddon told the court. “I asked if I could see it and he said that was not possible.”
"He said it’s quite large, but I think it’s around 30,000 square feet,” Sneddon recalled.
A Forbes recording from 2015 revealed Trump continuing to falsely claim the size of the penthouse was 30,000 square feet.
Another 2012 email shows Sneddon quoting the value of the penthouse between $120 million to $180 million.
He also confirmed he didn't even remember McConney until the attorney general's office called him to ask about the case. He also said he never knew that the 30,000-square-foot penthouse was a lie until the government told him.
Another person listed by the Trump Org. as an appraiser never actually did the work, he testified.