What Jennifer Weisselberg's Testimony Could Mean For The Trump Organization

For 14 years, Jennifer Weisselberg lived a charmed life. A former ballet dancer (via YouTube), she was married to Barry Weisselberg, a skating rink manager who earned more than $200,000 a year, and had two children who went to private schools where tuition fees were as high as $49,000 annually (via The Washington Post). For seven years, Jennifer, Barry, and their family even lived in an apartment overlooking Central Park, which she first believed was a wedding present to her and her husband from former President Donald Trump. When the apartment was eventually sold in 2014, it went for $2.85 million, with a rent listed as $4,950 a month (via MSNBC).

But the illusion of a fairy tale went down in flames for Jennifer Weisselberg when she filed for divorce in 2018. It was then that she revealed she was the victim of years of abuse by her husband, and in a temporary restraining order against him, she claimed harassment, assault, sexual abuse, forcible touching, strangulation, identity theft, and stalking. She says she suffers permanent injuries arising from violent incidents. Since the divorce, she has even lost custody of her children. What the divorce left her with are memories of what it was like being in the orbit of the Trump family, through her ex-father-in-law, Allen Weisselberg — as well as boxes of documents related to her ex-husband and his family (via CBS).

If you or anyone you know has been a victim of sexual assault, help is available. Visit the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network website or contact RAINN's National Helpline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673).

All the family secrets that Jennifer Weisselberg might have been privy to, and which involve her ex-father-in-law and Trump Organization chief financial officer Allen Weisselberg, are expected to come tumbling out when she testifies before a grand jury created by Manhattan District Attorney Cy Vance. And it appears that Jennifer will have plenty to say. Allen has worked with the Trump family since 1973 when he joined as a bookkeeper, and is known for his loyalty to the family. As Jennifer told MSNBC (via YouTube), "Allen Weisenberg is defined by what Donald Trump thinks about him, about saving him money regardless, every day, [and] by proving his [Allen's] worth by doing that 'creatively.'"

It's nuggets like these that make Jennifer Weisselberg particularly valuable to New York prosecutors. In an op-ed for MSNBC, trial lawyer and contributor Katie Phang pointed out: "Jennifer Weisselberg can explain some of the moves Trump has made over the years. But her real value for investigators isn't so much in what Trump might have said or done in front of her. It's what her ex-father-in-law might have said about Trump and his business at the dinner table, during family vacations spent together or on telephone calls. She can share the details of her life and her interactions with Trump and the Trump children, as well as countless others, acting as a gateway to help Vance get to Allen."  

And those revelations could help the prosecution expose whatever secrets the Trump Organization could be keeping.