Allen Weisselberg, the Trump Organization's longtime former chief financial officer, is no longer being represented by his Trump Organization-funded attorneys.
Weisselberg, who is serving a five-month sentence in Rikers Island after pleading guilty to 15 felony counts related to a tax evasion scheme, is no longer being represented by attorneys Nick Gravante and Mary Mulligan, according to WNBC. Despite his earlier guilty plea, prosecutors have considered a new round of insurance fraud charges to try to pressure him to cooperate with the Manhattan district attorney probe into the 2016 hush-money payment to adult film star Stormy Daniels, The New York Times reported last year. Weisselberg, who reportedly has direct knowledge of the hush-money payment, refused to testify against Trump at his earlier trial despite providing testimony that helped the D.A.'s office convict the Trump Organization in a tax fraud scheme.
Karen Agnifilo, former chief assistant district attorney of the Manhattan D.A.'s office, told MSNBC that the attorney change could mean "one of two things."
"Number one, the case is over and doesn't need lawyers anymore, they were just representing them on that one case," Agnifilo said. "Or, more likely, is there was this pressure campaign put on him saying while he's in Rikers, 'do you like being there? Because we're about to bring other charges."
The former prosecutor added that reporters would not know if Weisselberg had already testified before the grand jury because he's "incarcerated" and would be brought into the backdoor rather than the front of the building where reporters are stationed.
"So it's possible he's already testified, we just don't know," she said.
Some legal experts suggested that Weisselberg may have flipped in the case but cautioned that there may be other explanations.
"It could mean he's cooperating but don't jump to conclusions-it's not the only possibility," tweeted former U.S. Attorney Joyce White Vance.
"This could mean he flipped. Or it could mean that he faces additional charges. It might also signal new developments from the Manhattan DA but it is too soon to tell," explained former federal prosecutor Renato Mariotti.
Former federal prosecutor Andrew Weissmann, who served on special counsel Bob Mueller's team, wrote that the "specter of new insurance charges against Weisselberg makes complete sense" as the D.A.'s office nears a potential indictment of Trump.
Former U.S. Attorney Harry Litman added that there is no "better explanation" than Weisselberg cutting a deal with prosecutors.
"One way to gauge this will be how exactly Trump loses top in his next posting," he tweeted. "Does he go nuts and begin to distance himself from Weisselberg? In any event it's not just an intriguing and encouraging possibility; it also seems the best explanation for the last couple weeks."
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But three sources familiar with the situation told The Daily Beast that Weisselberg hasn't flipped at all — and that his attorney Nick Gravante was cut loose because he was not "Trumpy" enough.
Gravante, a top criminal defense lawyer, "aggressively advocated" for Weisselberg last year and was key in securing the plea deal that helped him avoid a long sentence by testifying at the Trump Organization trial, according to the report. Trump associates were "bitter" about Weisselberg's cooperation with prosecutors and convinced Eric Trump, the Trump Organization's executive vice president, to dump Gravante.
"Essentially, Gravante was so protective of Weisselberg that he was willing to have sit-downs with prosecutors to ensure the executive wouldn't be in further legal jeopardy—even if that made the Trump Organization uncomfortable," wrote The Daily Beast's Jose Pagliery.
Susan Necheles, an attorney that represented the Trump Org. at trial, told The Daily Beast that the report was "completely wrong."
"Nick made sure that Weisselberg cooperated with both the defense and the prosecution and Weisselberg's testimony at trial was extremely helpful to the defense and hurt the prosecution," Necheles said. "Mr. Weisselberg's decision to change lawyers was entirely his own, a decision which I understand Mr. Weisselberg made in consultation with his family after the conclusion of the trial."
But even if Weisselberg is not looking to cooperate with prosecutors, he could still face pressure and additional charges from prosecutors after a separate investigation by New York Attorney General Letitia James found that he lied to an underwriter from an insurance company by submitting an independent property appraisal that was actually done by the Trump Organization itself.
"Manhattan DA investigators are now dangling that over Weisselberg's head," Pagliery reported, "adding additional stress to his final weeks at Rikers."
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