Tag: Trump organization criminal investigation

The Memo: Dangers intensify for Trump as Vance brings charges

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The legal and political dangers facing former President Trump became a lot more real Thursday, when his closest lieutenant in running his businesses, Allen Weisselberg, gave himself up to prosecutors at dawn.

Weisselberg, along with the Trump Organization, was formally charged in court a few hours later. He was brought into court handcuffed. 

The 15-count indictment alleges that Weisselberg committed grand larceny and tax fraud, and that the Trump Organization was complicit in many of those offenses.  Continue reading.

DC investigators seek Weisselberg testimony as they compile case against Trump kids for ‘self-dealing’: report

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According to a report from the Daily Beast’s Jose Pagliery, the case being made against Donald Trump’s children — Don Jr., Ivanka and Eric — for cashing in on Donald Trump’s inauguration after his 2016 presidential win is being delayed while investigators seek testimony from Trump Org executive Allen Weisselberg.

The report states that Sunday, the District of Columbia’s attorney general was notified he will have to wait “…to find out if three more people in the Trump family circle can be forced to testify, as investigators continue to look into whether Donald Trump’s 2017 inauguration committee misspent more than $1 million and enriched his own company.”

In an interview with the Beast, lead witness Stephanie Winston Wolkoff — who helped oversee the inauguration events — said the investigation is looking at “self-dealing” by the Trump family. Continue reading.

What’s Behind the New York Attorney General’s Criminal Probe of the Trump Organization

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There’s a strong likelihood that evidence has been established of intent to commit fraud.

The announcement by New York Attorney General Letitia James that her office is “actively investigating the Trump Organization in a criminal capacity” was greeted with a wave of nearly unanimous snap analysis that this spelled big trouble for former President Donald Trump and his company. But behind the scenes, many lawyers, including experienced prosecutors in New York, expressed confusion about what the move actually signifies.

It turns out that James’ unusual public statement portends bad news for Trump and his family-run operation but not for the reason you likely suspect.

The attorney general’s spokesperson noted that the AG was investigating “along with the Manhattan D.A.,” whose office has been conducting for some time a criminal investigation into whether Trump’s company inflated the value of its properties to obtain loans and lowered the values to limit its tax burden. Rather than a new, independent investigation into similar matters, the announcement was more of a combining of resources. Members of the AG’s staff have been named as “special assistant district attorneys” and will be working as part of District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr.’s team. For that reason, it might have been more accurate to say that her team is assisting the DA’s already underway investigation. Continue reading.

Trump legal risks mount with New York moves

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Former President Trump‘s legal woes are mounting with the news that state and local prosecutors in New York are conducting a joint criminal investigation into his company.

It’s unclear exactly what charges the New York attorney general and the Manhattan district attorney are exploring, but the announcement signals an escalation in the offices’ investigations that have at times spilled into public view in recent years. The rare move to publicly announce a criminal probe is also fueling Republican efforts to discredit it.

The news comes three months after Manhattan District Attorney Cy Vance Jr. (D) obtained Trump’s tax returns, ending a protracted legal battle that twice reached the Supreme Court over a grand jury subpoena. Continue reading.

Seven questions about New York’s investigations of Trump

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On Tuesday, New York Attorney General Letitia James (D) announced a significant change in her long-running investigation of former president Donald Trump’s business practices.

Previously, her investigation had been a civil one ― if James found wrongdoing, the worst she could do was sue Trump or his businesses.

On Tuesday, however, James’s office said in a statement it also was pursuing a criminal investigation, meaning that James could eventually file criminal charges against someone in Trump’s orbit. A spokesman for the attorney general’s office said James is working with Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus R. Vance (D), who has been conducting a separate criminal investigation into Trump’s finances since 2018. Continue reading.

Prosecutors just gained ‘a lot of leverage’ on Trump

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On CNN Wednesday, former federal prosecutor Laura Coates explained how the newly coordinated criminal investigations by the Manhattan district attorney and New York attorney general into the Trump Organization escalate the legal problems for former President Donald Trump and his family.

“We treat your criminal sections and civil sections in the justice system differently,” said Coates. “Not because we don’t value above-board behavior, but because the penalties at stake are, one, liberty and the other a check being written. To combine these two raises the stakes for the attorneys. And to combine it from not only the AG’s office in New York, but also in Manhattan — it says that this is something far more expansive and there is some indication talking about criminal investigations. Some indication that it merits there to be a penalty of the deprivation of liberty as well.”

“It’s interesting that the New York attorney general’s office didn’t explain what prompted the change and why they released it publicly,” said anchor Poppy Harlow. “They don’t have to do that. What do you think?” Continue reading.

Trump lashes out at prosecutors over criminal probe into company

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Former President Trump on Wednesday lashed out at state and local prosecutors in New York after they announced that the two offices were conducting a joint criminal investigation into his company.

In a lengthy statement airing a list of grievances against Democrats in both Washington, D.C., and New York, Trump dismissed the criminal probe as a politically motivated effort to attack him.

“I have built a great company, employed thousands of people, and all I do is get unfairly attacked and abused by a corrupt political system. It would be so wonderful if the effort used against President Donald J. Trump, who lowered taxes and regulations, rebuilt our military, took care of our Veterans, created Space Force, fixed our border, produced our vaccine in record-setting time (years ahead of what was anticipated), and made our Country great and respected again, and so much more, would be focused on the ever more dangerous sidewalks and streets of New York,” Trump wrote in the statement. Continue reading.