Trump civil fraud case: Judge fines Trump $354M, says frauds 'shock the conscience'

Donald Trump would approve his financial statements before they were finalized between 2011 and 2016, ex-Trump CFO Allen Weisselberg testified.

Weisselberg said that Trump often had feedback about the notes sections of the statements, which contained more detailed descriptions of Trump's properties.

"'Don't use the word beautiful. Use the word magnificent,'" Weisselberg offered as an example of the kind of feedback Trump would provide.

Earlier Tuesday, Weisselberg testified that he did not meet with Trump or attorney Michael Cohen to review the statements. Returning to the topic after the lunch break, Weisselberg described Trump's final review of the document as a regular occurrence before he became president.

"Did you ever send it to the Mazars [accountants] … as a final version before Mr. Trump signed off on it?" state attorney Louis Solomon asked.

"Not that I can remember, no," Weisselberg said.

Ex-Trump CFO Allen Weisselberg explained the Trump Organization's process for valuing its marquee properties as a complicated, months-long process during which the firm's controller, Jeffrey McConney, would reach out to appraisers and brokers to better determine their value.

"This took months to prepare. It was not a simple task," Weisselberg said, adding that he reviewed McConney's final product at a "30,000-foot level."

But Weisselberg acknowledged that he often intervened in the process to push McConney in a certain direction.

In one example, Weisselberg testified that he suggested McConney add a 30% brand premium for seven of Trump's golf courses -- adding tens of millions of dollars in value without disclosing the reasoning.

"Was the 30% premium you directed Mr. McConney to add to the fixed assets disclosed in the statement of financial condition?" Solomon asked.

"No," Weisselberg said.

During a later portion of his direct examination, Weisselberg testified he sent Trump Organization employee Patrick Birney -- who took over handling Trump's financial statements from McConney -- a newspaper clipping about a nearby Palm Beach property in order to support the valuation of Trump's Mar-a-Lago Club.

"Patrick -- hold for next year DJT f/s, Let's see what it ends up selling for," a handwritten note from Weisselberg on the clipping said.

Weisselberg acknowledged his hesitancy to use that property's asking price to help value Mar-a-Lago.

"Anyone can ask anything for a dollar amount. Doesn't mean it's going to sell," Weisselberg said.

Ex-Trump CFO Allen Weisselberg acknowledged under questioning that the Trump Organization failed to fulfill some of the basic promises detailed in letters between the firm and its external accountant, Mazars USA.

"Do you believe the Trump Organization fulfilled that fundamental responsibility?" state attorney Solomon asked Weisselberg regarding a 2017 letter from Mazars that outlined the Trump Organization's responsibility to select the accounting principles used in financial statements.

"No," Weisselberg responded.

Asked about a separate letter outlining the Trump Organization's responsibility to comply with generally accepted accounting principles, or GAAP, Weisselberg initially suggested that the Trump Organization fully relied on Mazars to comply with the accounting standards.

"We relied on Mazars to understand GAAP," Weisselberg said.

"You were relying on Mazars to make a representation back to Mazars?" Solomon said, prompting Weisselberg to reverse his statement.

When questioned about the seemingly boilerplate accounting obligations to which the Trump Organization agreed, Weisselberg appeared to struggle to articulate who at the Trump Organization fulfilled the basic responsibilities as outlined.

After initially evading the state's question, ex-Trump CFO Allen Weisselberg denied that he ever met with Trump to discuss his financial statements.

"Did you ever meet with Donald Trump or Michael Cohen where there was discussion of the statement of financial condition before it was finalized?" state attorney Louis Solomon asked.

Weisselberg initially responded that he did not recall such a meeting happening, before answering more definitively.

"No. I don't believe it happened," Weisselberg said.

Judge Engoron, appearing skeptical of the answer, asked Weisselberg to confirm.

"Could it have happened, and you just don't remember?" Engoron asked.

"I am saying it did not happen," Weisselberg responded.

The attorney general's opening statement for the case included a portion of the deposition of former Trump attorney Michael Cohen, who claimed that Trump met with him and Weisselberg to direct them to increase his net worth, in order "to be higher on the Forbes list" of billionaires.

"Allen and I were tasked with taking the assets, increasing each of those asset classes in order to accommodate that eight-billion-dollar number [Trump requested]," Cohen said in the deposition.