Allen Weisselberg worked for the Trump Organization for decades. Now the New York prosecutor is suing him. An old Trump confidante believes the ex-president will soon have legal problems as well.
His lunchtime in July 2006 could be significantly more expensive than it already was. The TV star Donald Trump met the porn star Stormy Daniels on the sidelines of a golf tournament in Nevada. The two shared a bed, but because he wanted to become US president ten years later, his people were forced to end the rendezvous with around $ 130,000. A profane payment of hush money that, the prosecutors suspected, could have been illegal campaign funding. So they investigated and came across the business practices of Trump’s family company. Apparently they were or are so suspicious that 15 lawsuits have now been filed against the Trump Organization and its CFO Allen Weisselberg.
15 years of systematic tax evasion?
Specifically, the group and Weisselberg are accused of systematically evading taxes for at least 15 years. In the case of the 73-year-old, this involves taxes on services worth more than $ 1.7 million. “The purpose of the system was to compensate Weisselberg and other executives of the Trump organization in a way that was not on the books,” the indictment said. The beneficiaries therefore received significant parts of their income in an indirect and disguised manner, which was not reported to the tax authorities.
Unsurprisingly, the reactions from the Trump camp are irritated. Donald Jr., the son of the ex-president and vice-president of the company, described the charges as “political persecution of a political opponent” such as a “banana republic”. The lawyers of the Trump organization have made a similar statement, and the former president himself spoke up with a cryptic statement: “Do people see what the prosecutors of the radical left are trying to do to 75 million voters and patriots?” He was alluding to his voters in the lost presidential election last year – 74.2 million according to official figures – and seemed to indicate that he, too, considers the indictment to be politically motivated.
No charges against Donald Trump
Donald Trump himself is not bothered by the investigators. Not yet anyway. New York Attorney General Letitia James said it was an “ongoing criminal investigation”: “This investigation is ongoing and we will follow the facts and the law wherever they go.” So it is quite possible that the head of the company will still be targeted by the judiciary.
Whether it comes to that depends, among other things, on Allen Weisselberg. The responsible district attorney, Cyrus Vance, is supposed to exert pressure on the chief financial officer in order to get him to cooperate and testify against Trump. Similarly, Trump’s former cleaner and attorney, Micheal Cohen, has been tricked into switching sides. The lawyer has now mutated into a Trump opponent and comments on social media every step against the old confidante with relish malice. He advises Weisselberg in a video to get involved in a deal with the prosecutors, as there is “no other way for him to get out of the matter unharmed”.
However, it is still completely unclear whether the CFO will actually stab Trump in the back. Weisselberg is closely connected to the Trumps, has already worked for father Fred and manages the (private) family assets. According to the NBC broadcaster, the nature of the charges allows the conclusion that Weisselberg is not ready to cooperate, or not yet, because otherwise chief prosecutor Vance would have more control over the ex-president or his company. Perhaps, NBC continues, “his lawyers just have a good defense strategy. They could, for example, pass everything on to Jeffrey McConney, Weisselberg’s deputy, who has already testified.”
“Trump will still have problems”
Michael Cohen shows how much the New York investigators are dependent on key witnesses. He was the one who paid the hush money to Stormy Daniels. Many of the investigation results are likely to be based on the statements of the 54-year-old. In his opinion, the story is far from over and Trump himself would run into problems: “Nothing happens in this company without his knowledge and consent. Whether it is buying paper clips, lightbulbs, furniture or the school fees for Weisselberg’s grandchildren – everything bears the initials or the signature of Donald Trump, “said Cohen on CNN. If that is true, then the boss would be personally responsible for the possible misconduct.
Similarly, the New York Times commented on the progress of the proceedings: “Given the relatively small group of people in the leadership and Trump’s tendency to micromanage, there are good reasons to assume that the ongoing investigation will come pretty close to the ex-president himself.”
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