Trump Organization has final chance to persuade New York prosecutors not to file charges

Laura Clawson

Daily Kos Staff

Monday June 28, 2021 · 6:24 AM PDT

2021/06/28 · 06:24

US President-elect Donald Trump along with his son Donald, Jr., arrive for a press conference at Trump Tower in New York, as Allen Weisselberg (C), chief financial officer of The Trump, looks on January 11, 2017. - As US President Donald Trump's former lawyer Michael Cohen delivered hours of riveting testimony to a US House committee on February 27, 2019, one name came up again and again: Allen Weisselberg. Weisselberg, 71, is the publicity-shy chief financial officer of the Trump Organization and one of the real estate tycoon's oldest and closest advisors. (Photo by Timothy A. CLARY / AFP) (Photo credit should read TIMOTHY A. CLARY/AFP via Getty Images) — Trump Organization CFO Allen Weisselberg is seen lurking behind Donald and Don Jr.

TAGS

Edit Tags

Tag History

Done Editing Tags

The Trump Organization’s lawyers have one last chance to convince New York prosecutors not to file criminal charges over the company’s financial dealings. Lawyers for the Trump Organization and Donald Trump have a Monday afternoon deadline to make that case to Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr. and New York Attorney General Letitia James, who have joined forces after conducting separate investigations over two years.

The Trump Organization’s most imminent danger of criminal charges appears to center on benefits paid to chief financial officer Allen Weisselberg and other executives, which may not have been properly reported and taxed. Those benefits include cars, apartments, and private school tuition. Weisselberg’s former daughter-in-law has cooperated with investigators, telling them about the Trump apartment she and ex-husband Barry Weisselberg, who also works for Trump, lived in rent-free, and tuition for their son, among other things.

Trump lawyers met with prosecutors on Thursday, but Monday is the last chance for them to make the case against criminal charges, according to The Washington Post. When you’re a rich person or company involved in possible financial crimes, you get that kind of chance.

The current focus on Weisselberg and his fringe benefits is part of an effort to get him to flip on Trump and help with investigations into other aspects of Trump Organization business, including possible tax and bank fraud, but it seems that prosecutors now think they have enough not just to pressure Weisselberg but to charge the Trump Organization with crimes based on what they already have.

Former Trump personal lawyer Michael Cohen enthusiastically flipped and has provided prosecutors with possible avenues of investigation, but Weisselberg has apparently stayed loyal to Trump thus far.

“Donald Trump’s financial records are the Rosetta Stone for understanding the depth of his corruption and crimes,” Cohen told Yahoo News last year. “The more it is unraveled, the more he will unravel. It’s the reason he’s fought so hard to keep it under wraps.” New York prosecutors fought long and hard to get copies of Trump’s personal and corporate tax returns, finally succeeding earlier this year.

Trump has predictably called the investigation a “witch hunt.” And it’s true that his public standing drew attention to his business dealings … but that’s a set of choices he made. Trump ran a company that seems to have engaged in shady dealings, and then he sought the spotlight. He can’t really be surprised that the spotlight also illuminated the stuff he wanted to keep hidden.

Trump Organization has final chance to persuade New York prosecutors not to file charges

Comments are closed on this story.