Who is Patrick Birney? Trump Org exec testifies about plan to use 'presidential premiums' to inflate former POTUS' asset value
NEW YORK CITY: In a surprising revelation that garnered attention in the courtroom, Patrick Birney, assistant vice president of financial operations at The Trump Organization, recently testified about a bold scheme to inflate Donald Trump's net worth by introducing a "presidential premium" during his tenure as the 45th President of the United States, as per CNN.
This revelation marked a pivotal moment in New York Attorney General Letitia James' $250 million civil fraud case against the former president. The testimony, which unfolded in the Manhattan Supreme Court, revealed a significant effort to boost the valuation of Trump properties.
The 'presidential premium' proposition by the Trump Organization
Birney, a key witness in the trial, disclosed that top Trump Organization executives contemplated adding between 15% and 35% to the value of Trump's properties under the assumption that they would be perceived as more valuable during his presidency.
This proposal was initially discovered on draft versions of a 2017 annual Statement of Financial Condition, where company leaders aimed to inject as much as $144 million into Trump's assets, labeling it a "premium for presidential property."
One particular property that attracted their attention was Mar-a-Lago which they described as the "presidential winter residence" in official records presented during the trial, per ABC News.
The company's motive was to counteract a substantial $200 million decrease in Trump's net worth from 2016 to 2017, following a Forbes exposé that revealed an overvaluation of the Trump Tower triplex.
Who directed Patrick Birney to add 'presidential premium'?
While the notion of a "presidential premium" made waves during the trial, it ultimately did not find its way into the final draft of the 2017 financial document.
The proposal was put forward in the same year when the valuation of Trump's penthouse at Trump Tower suffered a blow, as its square footage was corrected by Forbes, reducing it from an exaggerated 33,000 square feet to a more accurate 10,996 square feet.
Birney, who played a role in preparing the annual statements from 2016 through 2021, testified that he couldn't distinctly remember who had directed the inclusion of the "premium." However, he indicated that it was likely at the behest of Allen Weisselberg, the long-standing CFO of the Trump Organization.
What lies ahead in Letitia James' case against Donald Trump
New York Attorney General Letitia James asserts that Trump consistently misrepresented his financial status in Statements of Financial Condition spanning from 2011 to 2021. This alleged deception was purportedly aimed at securing better loan and insurance terms and elevating Trump's position on Forbes' list of billionaires, according to the New York Post.
As the trial unfolded, the key witnesses included Birney and Weisselberg, both of whom admitted to altering the square footage of Trump's penthouse apartment in response to a 2017 Forbes article that exposed discrepancies in its size.
Looking ahead, Michael Cohen, Trump's former personal lawyer and "fixer," was slated to take the witness stand after Birney, but his testimony has been postponed due to a health condition, per CBS.
Cohen's testimony is highly anticipated, and his role as a witness in the Attorney General's case has been a point of contention, as he is a convicted felon and has faced allegations of dishonesty.
The former president himself may return to the courtroom for further proceedings, creating an atmosphere of intense anticipation and drama in Lower Manhattan.