The 'third man in the room' revealed: Why star witness who saw Trump and fixer Michael Cohen plot $420,000 pay out never testified at his hush money trial - as ex-president rages at judge

As Donald Trump's hush money trial heads toward conclusion, many have noted that the Trump Organization's longtime Chief Financial Officer Allen Weisselberg never testified.

Closing arguments are coming as early as Tuesday in the case. Trump posted an angry missive to Judge Juan Merchan on Truth Social Monday. 

Weisselberg, 76 - currently serving a five-month prison sentence at Rikers' Island in New York after pleading guilty to perjury in a separate civil case -  was alleged to have been in the room when Trump plotted a $420,000 payout to fixer Michael Cohen. 

However, the very perjury conviction that sees Weisselberg spending his second stint behind bars is why the prosecution didn't call him to the stand at any point during the trial.

The loyal Trump executive, who worked for the family for 50 years, was last month convicted of lying under oath. He had told the court he didn't know how Trump's Manhattan penthouse ended up being listed as three times its actual size in the company's financial statements.

As Donald Trump's hush money trial heads toward conclusion, many have noted that the Trump Organization's longtime Chief Financial Officer Allen Weisselberg never testified

Trump's lawyers are expected to make Weisselberg's absence a key part of their closing statement.

The New York Times reports that their argument that he would be the only person who could confirm the meeting between Trump and Cohen in 2017, with Cohen an unreliable narrator with a grudge against Trump.

Prosecutors have attempted to get Weisselberg to flip on Trump for years but he is apparently so loyal, prosecution didn't even bother contacting his legal team ahead of the trial.

They doubted, given Weisselberg's convictions for perjury and loyalty to Trump, he would tell the truth on the stand and that the jury would believe him even if he did.

Judge Merchan even, at one point in the case, asked both sides if they'd tried to get him to testify, with both saying they hadn't.

'The reason Mr. Weisselberg is not a witness to either side is because the district attorney's office initiated a perjury prosecution in the lead-up to this case,' said Trump lawyer Emil Bove at the time.

Weisselberg came up multiple times during the trial, however, with Cohen saying he was a part of the decision to pay Daniels. 

'He stated to me that he had spoken to some friends, some individuals, very smart people, and that it´s $130,000. You´re like a billionaire. Just pay it. There is no reason to keep this thing out there. So do it,' Cohen said.

Weisselberg, 76 - currently serving a five-month prison sentence at Rikers' Island in New York after pleading guilty to perjury in a separate civil case - was alleged to have been in the room when Trump plotted a $420,000 payout to fixer Michael Cohen

The loyal Trump executive, who worked for the family for 50 years, was last month convicted of lying under oath. He had told the court he didn't know how Trump's Manhattan penthouse ended up being listed as three times its actual size in the company's financial statements

'And he expressed to me: Just do it. Go meet up with Allen Weisselberg and figure this whole thing out,' he added.

Jeffrey McConney, the Trump Organization´s former controller, could not verify Weisselberg being in the room for the payout agreement but testified about working with Weisselberg to set up payments to Cohen, including reimbursement for the $130,000 payment to Daniels, a bonus and money for taxes. 

Deborah Tarasoff, the Trump Organization´s accounts payable supervisor, testified about processing the payments to Cohen, including receiving checks that Trump had signed at the White House. 

Under defense questioning, she acknowledged permission to cut Cohen´s checks came not from Trump himself, but from Weisselberg and McConney. 

Meanwhile, Trump spent a piece of his Memorial Day posting to Truth Social, asking why Judge Merchan didn't allow Mark Pomerantz to testify.

Pomerantz, a former senior prosecutor in the Manhattan DA's office who investigated of Trump's business dealings, has said the former president ran 'an empire built on lies.' 

'Could somebody please ask Judge Merchan, whatever happened to MARK POMERANTZ, the man Alvin Bragg was furious at for the things he did on this contrived and unconstitutional case, and why wasn’t he allowed to testify?' 

Trump also wanted to know why election expert Brad Smith and Bob Costello were 'shut down' by Merchan. 

Trump spent a piece of his Memorial Day posting to Truth Social, asking why Judge Merchan didn't allow Mark Pomerantz to testify

'And then, of course, there’s the BIGGEST EVENT OF THEM ALL, but I’m not allowed to talk about it because I’m under an illegal and unconstitutional GAG ORDER. This is the Biden White House at work. ELECTION INTERFERENCE!'

Closing arguments will kick off Tuesday morning as the case comes to a close nearly six grueling weeks later.

Prosecutors have a high bar to reach in order to convince the 12-person New York jury that Trump conspired to help his 2016 election campaign by paying pornstar Stormy Daniels $130,000 to keep quiet about their alleged sexual encounters.  

Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg's team will wrap up all the evidence and witness testimony they claim is sufficient enough to nail Trump on 34 felony counts of 'falsifying business records.' 

After testimony by 22 witnesses, some salacious and some dull, and pages of documents and evidence - it all comes down to whether the prosecution or defense has better laid out their case.

Trump's attorney team is expected to lay out a strong defense of the former president, distancing him from Cohen's payments to Stormy Daniels. 

They will also reiterate several of their strongest points, that hush money payments are not illegal and Trump solely wanted to spare his family humiliation from Stormy's alleged affair claims.

Closing arguments will kick off Tuesday morning as the case comes to a close nearly six grueling weeks later

Trump's attorney team is expected to lay out a strong defense of the former president, distancing him from Cohen's payments to Stormy Daniels

Perhaps the strongest strategy that will be employed by Trump's team is attacking the credibility of the prosecution's 'star witness' Michael Cohen. 

The defense only needs to convince one juror out of the 12 total that there isn't sufficient evidence 'beyond a reasonable doubt' to prove Trump is guilty to hand the ex-president a victory in the case. 

If there is at least one holdout on convicting Trump, a 'hung jury' would be declared by the judge sparking a mistrial.

The outcome of the case could be resolved in one of three manners: an acquittal, a conviction or a mistrial. 

If Trump is convicted, his team will likely start the appeals process, which could take years. 

It is unlikely that Trump, if found guilty, would be sentenced before the 2024 election in November.