When Mr. Bragg took office in January 2022, prosecutors in his office were already presenting evidence to a grand jury about Mr. Trump’s financial statements. His predecessor, Cyrus R. Vance Jr., who did not seek re-election, had authorized the prosecutors to move forward with the case.
But Mr. Bragg soon became skeptical, concerned that they lacked enough evidence to demonstrate Mr. Trump’s intent to falsify the statements, a key element of proving the case. Mr. Bragg also lacked confidence in relying on the testimony of Michael D. Cohen, a former fixer for Mr. Trump who was directly involved in the hush-money deal but played a lesser role in Mr. Trump’s financial statements.
Enter Mr. Weisselberg, the Trump Organization’s former chief financial officer, a role that provided him a front-row seat to the creation of the financial statements.
The district attorney’s first pressure campaign against Mr. Weisselberg peaked in the summer of 2021, when Mr. Vance, unable to secure Mr. Weisselberg’s assistance, brought criminal charges against him and the Trump Organization in the tax fraud case. Despite refusing to implicate Mr. Trump personally, Mr. Weisselberg ultimately pleaded guilty and testified against the Trump Organization at its trial last year.
The company, which continues to pay for his lawyers, was convicted. And Mr. Weisselberg, as part of a plea deal, served 100 days in the Rikers Island jail.
Now, Mr. Weisselberg’s release from jail, rather than representing a reprieve, is expected to deliver him back into the jaws of the same predicament: He can turn on Mr. Trump, or potentially spend the rest of his life behind bars.
Although perjury is a low-level felony, Mr. Weisselberg could still face significant prison time. The judge who has overseen Trump-related cases, Juan Merchan, sentenced Mr. Weisselberg to 100 days in Rikers Island in the tax fraud case and warned him that he typically imposes tougher sentences in white-collar cases.