Is the hammer about to drop on Donald Trump and the Trump Organization? It looks like it may happening sooner than expected, based on how slow grand juries usually operate. The New York Times is reporting that the Trump Organization could face criminal charges as early as next week. The Manhattan D.A. has reportedly "informed Donald J. Trump’s lawyers that it is considering criminal charges against his family business, the Trump Organization, in connection with fringe benefits the company awarded a top executive."
The Manhattan D.A., Cyrus Vance, has been investigating Donald Trump and the Trump Org for months, if not years. They have also been looking into the Trump Org CFO, Allen Weisselberg, on a range of topics, including "fringe benefits." It is news that the Trump Org itself may be facing charges, versus individual executives. That would be unlikely unless that can show an intentional decision on behalf of the company itself to commit tax fraud.
NYT reports that charges could be announced as early as next week. Prosecutors have been looking seriously at reports of "perks" for employees, which include private school tuition, free apartments and car leases, none of which were apparently reported to the IRS. That is what we call fraud. It is also a crime. The issue is two fold - were these recorded in the company ledgers and were taxes paid on them by the recipients.
Trump's lawyers met with the prosecutors on Thursday "in hopes of persuading them to abandon any plan to charge the company." These types of meetings are pretty standard when dealing with white-collar criminal investigations. It is important to note that it would be highly unusual for prosecutors to indict a company PURELY for failing to pay taxes on fringe benefits. This could be the first of many charges, but it is too early to predict.
Could Trump himself face charges? How about his kids? Is this an attempt to get Weisselberg to flip (that is my guess)? No one had any comment.
If the Trump Org is criminally charged, they can face various penalties and fines. That could lead to difficulty for the company to secure loans or continue with specific business relationships. This means Trump could go bankrupt - again.
Ari Melber covered this on The Beat with more detail.
Twitter erupted:
HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA oops I mean how terrible
— Jeff Tiedrich (@itsJeffTiedrich) June 25, 2021
— d a n n y🃏 (@dunisayno) June 25, 2021
Trump: “Weisselbergs? I don’t know them. I might be in some photos with them. I take photos with a lot of people.”
— End the Filibuster Gun Reform Infrastructure = NOW (@TrueWordsRSpoke) June 25, 2021
— Ty Webb 🇺🇸 (@Ty___Webb) June 25, 2021
Let's GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
— Sandy Kay, 100% Vaxxed (@sandykaykay) June 25, 2021
Every one of these tweets is a MOOD.
