Conrad Black's Trump Card

Perhaps a pinch of the Donald will make Conrad Black's fraud trial spicy enough for Americans.

Black, on trial for fraud in his running of the Hollinger International newspaper empire, plans to call Donald Trump to rebut allegations that Black cheated investors by making them pay $42,869 for his wife's birthday party in 2000.

So far, Black's trial has drawn scant attention in the U.S., despite juicy federal prosecutors' allegations that he and his partner "looted" Hollinger of tens of millions of dollars.

At its peak, Hollinger published dozens of newspapers, including the Daily Telegraph and Sunday Telegraph in London, the Sun-Times in Chicago, and the Jerusalem Post.

Black is formally charged with keeping non-competition fees that prosecutors say belonged to the company, and with expensing most of the cost of his wife's birthday party.

The party, at New York restaurant La Grenouille, famously featured Beluga caviar, lobster ravioli, and a wine bill that totaled $13,000. Some wines cost as much as $320 a bottle.

Several former Hollinger officers have already testified that they considered the birthday party a wholly social event, which would undercut Black's justification for billing all but $20,000 of the cost to the company.

These witnesses included two directors--former ambassador Richard Burt and economist Marie-Josee Kravis--as well as Black's former business partner, David Radler.

Trump, who was negotiating to buy the Sun-Times building at the time of the party, is expected to say that he considered the party a business affair.

by Mark Stein