Donald Trump Paid ‘About’ $400,000 to Witness

The star defense witness in former President Donald Trump‘s New York civil fraud trial had been paid “about” $400,000 to assist the ex-president months before he took the stand.

Trump, who is also facing 91 felony counts in four separate criminal proceedings, has denied all wrongdoing and maintains that his legal woes are the result of a political “witch hunt,” claiming to be the victim of “persecution” and “election interference” as he seeks to regain the presidency in 2024.

New York University (NYU) accounting professor Eli Bartov testified in Trump’s defense at the trial in Manhattan on Thursday, telling the court that there was “no evidence whatsoever for any accounting fraud” by the former president.

Trump, his two eldest sons and the Trump Organization are being sued by New York Attorney General Letitia James for $250 million, having been accused of fraudulently inflating the value of Trump’s assets to obtain favorable business loans.

Bartov told the court on Thursday that he “absolutely” believed James’ claims were without merit, although he also admitted there was “no question” that the value of Trump’s Manhattan penthouse had been artificially inflated on a financial statement.

As is often the case for paid expert witnesses, prosecutors have attempted to discredit Bartov over the fact that he was paid a large amount of money by Trump to testify.

The attorney general’s counsel Kevin Wallace on Thursday called Bartov’s testimony “pure speculation from someone they hired to say whatever it is they want.”

The transcript of a videotaped deposition that Bartov took part in on July 28 indicates that he had already done over $500,000 worth of consulting work for the ex-president and had been paid “about” $400,000 up to that point.

“I would say maybe [$]100,000 or [$150,000] came from Mr.—from The Trump Organization, it says on my statement ‘Trump,’ and maybe [$250,000 or $220,000]—maybe, yeah, about, came from what it says on the statement, ‘Save America,’ maybe it’s Mr. Trump, I don’t know, but it says ‘Save America,'” Bartov said.

Bartov said that he had “spent about 400 hours” working for Trump in total up to the day of his deposition, at a rate of $1,350 per hour—a total of $540,000, although the witness had only collected the roughly $400,000 as of July.

It is likely that Bartov went on to charge Trump for additional hours he was deposed. At a minimum, he can be expected to bill Trump for his testimony in court on Thursday, for which paid witnesses often charge a higher rate than non-trial consulting work.

Newsweek reached out for comment to Trump’s office via email on Thursday.

Regardless of Bartov’s testimony, the issue of whether or not Trump committed fraud is not being decided at the trial, with New York State Supreme Court Justice Arthur Engoron having previously ruled in a summary judgment that Trump did commit fraud.

The current hearings are to determine the extent to which Trump and his co-defendants will be punished for the fraud. In addition to losing hundreds of millions in fines, Trump could see his New York business empire dismantled and be banned from conducting further business in the state.