Trump's expert witness paid nearly $1 million, split between Trump Org. and Save America PAC: Report

The former president's pursuit proved profitable for a key witness for whom about half of a million dollars was said to have come from political donations.

(Video: MSNBC)

Although not required to appear, former President Donald Trump reappeared in a Manhattan courtroom Friday for the $250 million civil fraud trial brought by New York Attorney General Letitia James. Testimony from a New York University professor underscored how integral the legal battles had become in the fight for a return to the White House when the expert witness discussed a source of his ongoing payments.

NYU accounting professor Eli Bartov took the stand Friday to claim he found “no evidence of any accounting fraud,” along with a breakdown of where the $900,000 had originated had received so far for his services.

Joining MSNBC's Alex Witt on Saturday, correspondent Chloe Atkins explained: “So, as you said, Trump's key star witness, who is an accounting professor at NYU, acknowledged on the stand that he be this important fact, that his fees for testifying on behalf of the defense were split between the Trump Organization, which is the defendant, and Trump's Save America PAC.”

“Now, I want to remind people that it is not unusual for a defendant to pay an expert witness to testify on their behalf during a trial. However, it does show this pattern of the Trump PAC paying their legal bills and their battles legal issues that have been going on for some time,” he remarked.

“Now, this accounting expert said on the stand that he would bill the Trump Organization, but then the bank statements would say that they were paid by the Trump Organization or Trump's PAC, Save America,” Atkins added.

According to a presentation by the FEC, an down payment As of April 25, 2023, the Save America PAC had been made to retain Bartov as legal counsel in the amount of $40,500. After that, a July deposition filed the professor explaining that although he had been retained by Morian Law, PLLC, he had been sending his invoices to The Trump Organization.

“Who actually made the payment,” Bartov said, “sometimes it's the Trump Organization. Sometimes it's somebody else.”

“He went on to specify, “… everything I'm telling you is what I see in my bank statement. So sometimes I see the Trump Organization. Sometimes I watch Save America.”

At the time, he claimed that “maybe 100,000 or 150 came from Mr. — the Trump Organization, he says in my statement 'Trump,' and maybe 250 or 220 — maybe yes, roughly, came from what he says in the statement . , 'Save America', maybe it's Mr. Trump, I don't know, but it says 'Save America'”.

Bartov had disclosed that his hourly rate was $1,350 and that, as of this week, he had spent about 650 hours on the president's civil fraud case.

Outside the courtroom, Trump himself commented on the testimony, saying: “This is a very well-respected man. I don't know him, but he's an expert witness and he found no fraud.”

Staff writer

A native of Brooklyn, NY, Kevin Haggerty is a graduate of Hunter College, where he studied Cultural Anthropology and Geography. An avid reader and seeker of truth, he currently resides in Texas with his wife and dog, and when he's not researching current events and their impacts, you'll find him spending time with friends and family or working on his next novel ·the.

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