I was subpoenaed by the Manhattan District Attorney to testify before the grand jury investigating Donald Trump. Chase was subpoenaed for a story about the value of the former president's apartment.
We have been fighting these subpoenas. How do we keep an independent press when journalists have to testify for or against the subjects they cover? When sources of information on matters of public interest worry whether reporters could be dragged into a courtroom, or when journalists hold back, fearful of the resources needed to lawyer up, what should be done?
The judge overseeing the grand jury process limited the scope of the grand jury process to confirm the accuracy of the cover story and the article about the apartment after months of objections. Yesterday we did that. I testified for about 20 minutes, while Peterson-Withorn followed for five minutes.
The original story reported what Trump said six years ago. During the testimony, we did not reveal any new information. If we were sitting on something that was important, we would tell our readers about it. We felt it was appropriate to share what we discussed with the grand jury.
Mark Pomerantz was the federal prosecutor who brought in the case. The majority of the questions were a simple yes or no.
The Forbes 400 list of the richest Americans is based on the methodology. He read the statement aloud. You can read the current version here. We apply that methodology across the board. In the story, Trump claimed that we have one methodology for him and another for every other billionaire.
The 1,600 or so people who have been on The Forbes 400 since 1982, none of them have been more focused on their net worth than Donald Trump.
Our net worth estimate for him in 2015 was $4.5 billion, but Trump told me he was worth much more.
Trump told me that a higher net worth number was good for financing, as reported in the article.
I reported in the article that in October 1993 Trump told me he was calling from the waiting room of the hospital where his wife had just given birth to Tiffany.
He said he could sell his stake in Trump Tower for $2 billion or $2.5 billion.
The apartment in Trump Tower was worth at least twice as much as we thought it was, when Trump took us on a tour of it. He told us that his apartment was 33,000 square feet.
Forbes estimates were high in the early 1990s, and Trump deserved to be off the list.
I reported in the article that Trump made a suggestion for the headline of the story in 2015.
Those are the facts. We will leave it to others to figure out what this means for Vance. We will put a spotlight on what seems to be a creeping use of subpoenas to undermine a free press. Forbes agreed to become a signatory for a Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press letter urging the House Select Committee investigating the January 6 attack to withdraw its subpoena of a photojournalist, seeking three months of her phone records. Both reporters and prosecutors serve the public in different ways. The latter shouldn't try to undermine the efficacy of the former.
There are stories related to this.
Donald Trump has been lying about the size of his Penthouse for 33 years.
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