Donald Trump Risks Perjuring Himself Over Mar-a-Lago Valuation

Donald Trump risks perjuring himself when he takes the stand to testify in his civil fraud trial on Monday, according to a legal expert.

Judge Arthur Engoron resolved the top claim in the lawsuit brought by New York Attorney General Letitia James in September, ruling that Trump and his company routinely deceived banks, insurers and others by massively exaggerating the value of his assets and his net worth on annual financial statements, which were used to make deals and secure loans.

The trial concerns remaining claims of conspiracy, insurance fraud and falsifying business records. James is seeking $250 million in penalties and a ban on Trump doing business in New York.

Trump, the leading Republican presidential candidate, has denied wrongdoing and has accused James, a Democrat, of trying to derail his campaign to regain the White House.

Among the topics Trump is likely to be asked about is his "inconsistent" valuation of his Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach, Florida.

A big difference between Trump and his sons Eric and Donald Trump Jr., who testified in the case last week, is that the former president has "multiple public statements, and [deposition] testimony, doubling down on his fabulist estimates of property valuation and net worth," Harry Litman, a former U.S. attorney and deputy assistant attorney general, wrote in a post on X, formerly Twitter.

Trump will be forced to choose between "eating his words by the wheelbarrow-full or trying to stand behind them, which court likely will find not credible and even potentially perjurious," Litman wrote.

He noted also that Trump "took the fifth many times in his deposition in the case.

"He'll field those same questions, and if he takes the fifth again, the judge can draw an adverse inference that the testimony would've been bad for him."

However, Neama Rahmani, an attorney and former federal prosecutor, told Newsweek that perjury is "often threatened, but rarely prosecuted."

"Trump does risk perjuring himself by testifying, but it's unlikely he'll be charged," Rahmani said.

"Perjury prosecutions are difficult, and Trump has much bigger criminal problems to deal with.

"The greater risk is that Trump says something that undermines his credibility, that may be used against him in his criminal cases, or that exposes him to even greater civil liability."

Newsweek has contacted a Trump attorney for comment via email.

Joyce Vance, a former U.S. attorney for the Northern District of Alabama who has been following the civil fraud trial, wrote in a recent Substack post that Trump will likely be confronted by lawyers from the attorney general's office "with the inconsistent practices The Trump Organization used in reporting valuation on properties for purposes like obtaining loans and insurance."

Trump "testified at his deposition that it was worth $1.5 billion," Vance wrote. "But that was a whimsical value with no real support beyond Trump's 'belief' that was how much his property was worth. And, he acknowledged his estimate was based on the assumption the property could be converted into a private residence. Of course, Mar-a-Lago is a club and Trump is bound by [the] deed restriction he entered into with Palm Beach in 1993 that requires that it remains a club. Trump made up a number and based on circumstances that could never exist."

Engoron "can use all of this, as well as other evidence, to evaluate how much the Trumps must pay to the state of New York in damages," Vance said.

Update 11/6/23, 9:52 a.m. ET: This article has been updated to add comment from Neama Rahmani.