Federal prosecutors in New York appear to have their hands full investigating Donald Trump, the Trump inaugural committee, and the Trump Organization itself, as well as longtime associates such as Trump’s former personal attorney, Michael Cohen. Today, CNN reports things are getting increasingly dicey for Trump Organization executives because federal prosecutors have come knocking, seeking interviews for reasons that aren’t yet clear to the public:
Federal prosecutors in New York have requested interviews in recent weeks with executives at the Trump Organization, according to people familiar with the matter, signaling a growing potential threat to President Donald Trump and those in his orbit from criminal investigations by the Manhattan US Attorney's office.
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The specific inquiry or topics of interest by prosecutors in any interviews with Trump Organization executives wasn't immediately clear. The sources were not authorized to speak on the record. A spokesperson for the company didn't respond to a request for comment.
No specific executives were mentioned in the report, but Donald Trump’s eldest sons are running the business while he is indisposed. Although the reason for these interviews is unknown, it is clear that you never wants to have federal prosecutors knocking on your door, asking to put you on the record. Perhaps the mystery investigation has something to do with Allen Weiselberg, the longtime chief financial officer of the Trump Organization, who was granted immunity by federal prosecutors in New York after he received a subpoena related to the Michael Cohen investigation, which resulted in eight felony charges for Cohen. Did Weiselberg spill more than just the hush-money payment details? Stay tuned.
This compounds the headaches and legal jeopardy not just for the Trump family, but for any executives who might be caught in this criminal net. Late yesterday, we learned federal prosecutors in New York issued a wide-ranging subpoena to Donald Trump’s inaugural committee, which raised nearly double the amount raised by President Obama’s committee in 2009. The subpoena seeks all documents related to donors, vendors, and finances, and prosecutors are specifically interested in how vendors were paid and whether outside parties paid vendors directly, which would be a way to skirt reporting laws. As Laura Coates, a former federal prosecutor who is currently a legal analyst for CNN, noted on-air last night, this subpoena appears to be related to a grand jury request that is entirely separate from the special counsel probe led by Robert Mueller. As Coates said, “this is very big news.”
Indeed.