Donald Trump’s family organization was was found guilty of felony tax fraud and other charges in the State Supreme Court in Manhattan. In what the New York Times called a “stinging rebuke,” the Organization was given the maximum fine. Let me make that clear. For a guilty verdict of 17 felony charges committed over a decade, the organization was given not a $1.6 HUNDRED dollar fine, not a $1.6 THOUSAND dollar fine, but a full $1.6 MILLION dollar fine.
Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg went on to say without a hint of irony— “While corporations can’t serve jail time, this consequential conviction and sentencing serves as a reminder to corporations and executives that you cannot defraud tax authorities and get away with it. ” But if you are Donald Trump in NYC, you definitely can and do get away with it. Let’s remember Bragg as the District Attorney who squashed (and I don’t mean quash, I mean like steamrolled) the investigation into Trump carried out under his predecessor, Cy Vance Jr. The decision to end the investigation caused the abrupt resignation of Mark Pomerantz and Carey Dunne, who headed the DA’s investigation of Trump.
Pomerantz, a former federal prosecutor, in fact came out of retirement to lead the investigation at the behest of then-DA Vance. Dunne had served as the DA’s general counsel and had distinguished himself by his successful argument that resulted in the Supreme Court’s decision that Trump’s personal taxes had to be turned over to prosecutors.
Pomerantz’s resignation letter did not mince words when he stated that the prosecution team that had been investigating Trump “harbors no doubt about whether he committed crimes — he did.” He went on to say, “I believe that Donald Trump is guilty of numerous felony violations of the Penal Law in connection with the preparation and use of his annual Statements of Financial Condition. His financial statements were false…”
Don’t worry though, those who believe justice will be served to Donald Trump from prosecutors, no doubt playing multi-dimensional chess, can take heart when Bragg says “the investigation continues,” although the reports that prosecutors are now returning documents to people who turned over information about Trump’s business hardly supports the claim.
The big question remains — Now that this conviction for organizational fraud has taken place, will the IRS step in with tax fraud prosecutions? Or is Donald Trump wholly above the law?