Former CFO of Trump Organization Allen Weisselberg enters the courtroom for his second day on the stand on Thursday, Nov. 17, 2022, in New York. Photo: Ryland West/ALM

Before stepping down from the witness stand Friday after nearly two full days of testimony in the criminal tax fraud trial of the Trump Organization, the company's former chief financial officer Allen Weisselberg had a chance to praise his attorneys. Susan Hoffinger, chief of the Manhattan District Attorney's investigation division, asked whether Weisselberg's legal team—including Nicholas Gravante of Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft, Mary Mulligan of Friedman Kaplan Seiler & Adelman and Bryan Skarlatos of Kostelanetz & Fink—were "some of the best lawyers in New York City." Weisselberg grinned. "Most of them," he answered to chuckles around the courtroom, including from Gravante. "The answer is yes," Weisselberg clarified. Hoffinger asked who pays Weisselberg's legal bills. "The Trump Organization," Weisselberg said. "Even after you betrayed their trust?" Hoffinger asked. "Correct," Weisselberg said. Weisselberg, 75, appeared mostly relaxed as he answered questions from Hoffinger this week, three months after he pleaded guilty to 15 counts, including larceny and tax fraud for earning approximately $1.76 million in unreported compensation, such as a Manhattan apartment, Mercedes-Benz leases and private school tuition for his grandchildren. His plea agreement with the Manhattan District Attorney's Office included a commitment to testify if called to do so. If he complies with all the terms of the agreement, Weisselberg is set to receive a five-month sentence instead of the maximum available range of five to 15 years. Trump Organization attorneys Alan Futerfas and Susan Necheles focused on that arrangement in the final stages of their cross-examination Friday. Weisselberg insisted he was telling the truth in a brief but intense exchange with Necheles, which ended shortly after an objection from Futerfas. "You're worried, as you sit up there today, that when it comes to sentencing, the prosecutors may argue you didn't tell the truth at trial…that's in your mind as you sit there, right?" Necheles asked. "What is in my mind is to tell the truth at this trial," Weisselberg said. "You're worried what your sentence is going to be?" Necheles asked. Weisselberg started to answer with the words "I imagine if I tell the truth it'll be exactly…" before Necheles cut him off. "Are you really saying to the jury you don't care what your sentence is going to be?" she asked. Acting Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Juan Merchan sustained an objection from Hoffinger at that point. Necheles asked Weisselberg whether he understood that "the prosecutors, at the end of this trial, will be arguing whether or not you told the truth." "I don't know what the procedure is," Weisselberg said as Futerfas stood up to object in what appeared to be a rare display of friction between lawyers who have sat together at the defense table throughout the trial. While Necheles represents the Trump Corporation and Futerfas represents the Trump Payroll Corporation, the two entities named in the indictment are both under the Trump Organization umbrella and have often been conflated during the course of the trial. Futerfas later returned to a similar line of questioning, repeatedly asking Weisselberg whether he "has to make" the prosecutors "happy." "I have to tell the truth," Weisselberg answered at least twice. During cross-examination, Weisselberg also repeatedly volunteered that he was, in fact, guilty of the crimes for which he was indicted. The five-month proposal required Weisselberg to plead guilty "to the entire indictment," Futerfas observed. "You had to allocute, you had to say and plead guilty to all the charges in the indictment to get that time?" he asked. "Correct. Which I was guilty of," Weisselberg said. On re-direct examination, Hoffinger asked Weisselberg to return to one of the strongest points of Futerfas' cross-examination on Thursday, when Weisselberg repeatedly answered "yes" to Futerfas' questions about whether he acted only for his own gain in executing the fraud scheme. "On cross, you said all of this, the way you conducted this scheme, was done solely for your benefit," Hoffinger said. "Was that entirely accurate?" Weisselberg softened his answer, noting there was "some" benefit to the Trump Organization related to payroll taxes. "It was primarily my greed," he maintained. Weisselberg previously testified that he is on a leave of absence from the Trump Organization, where he most recently served as senior adviser. He said he still earns more than $1 million per year in salary and bonus and "hopefully" will receive an annual bonus totaling half a million dollars in early 2023.