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((It has just begun- the subpoenas going out-- Getting me some popcorn-(I'm gonna fill this thread, yup-)))
The investigation into former President Donald Trump continues to move forward, according to an exclusive new report by Reuters.
"The Manhattan District Attorney's Office has subpoenaed a New York City property tax agency as part of a criminal investigation into Donald Trump's company, the agency confirmed on Friday, suggesting prosecutors are examining the former president's efforts to reduce his commercial real-estate taxes for possible evidence of fraud," Reuters reported.
"The subpoena is the latest indication that Manhattan District Attorney Cy Vance Jr. is looking at the values Trump assigned to several commercial properties in tax filings and loan documents," Reuters reported.
"Along with information already subpoenaed from creditors, the tax agency documents would help investigators determine whether Trump's business inflated the value of his properties to secure favorable terms on loans while deflating those values to lower tax bills for those same properties."
Trump is also facing an investigation from New York Attorney General Letitia James and Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis in Georgia.
Last edited by Temple on Wed Mar 31, 2021 2:43 pm; edited 2 times in total
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Subject: Re: Trump Criminal/Civil Investigations Move Forward- Sat Feb 20, 2021 7:50 pm
2-20-2021
Pentagon opens investigation into Trump's last minute move to yank Space Command HQ out of Colorado.
On Saturday, the Associated Press reported that the inspector general of the Department of Defense is investigating the Air Force's decision, in the final week of former President Donald Trump's term, to move the Space Command from Colorado Springs, Colorado to Huntsville, Alabama.
"The decision on Jan. 13, one week before Trump left office, blindsided Colorado officials and raised questions of political retaliation. Trump had hinted at a Colorado Springs rally in 2020 that the command would stay at Peterson Air Force Base in Colorado Springs," reported Nicholas Riccardi. "But the man with whom Trump held that rally, Republican Sen. Cory Gardner, lost his reelection bid in November, and Colorado, unlike Alabama, voted decisively against Trump."
"On Friday, the inspector general's office announced it was investigating whether the relocation complied with Air Force and Pentagon policy and was based on proper evaluations of competing locations," continued the report.
The move to relocate the Space Command has sparked bipartisan outrage in Colorado, with GOP Rep. Doug Lamborn, who represents Colorado Springs, saying Trump's decision was a "fundamentally flawed process that focused on bean-counting."
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Subject: Re: Trump Criminal/Civil Investigations Move Forward- Mon Feb 22, 2021 7:44 am
2-22-2021
Trump suffers major defeat as Supreme Court rejects bid to shield his taxes from Manhattan prosecutor.
Former President Donald Trump suffered a significant legal blow on Monday when the United States Supreme Court rejected his plea to keep his tax records away from prosecutors at the Manhattan District Attorney's Office.
Manhattan DA Cy Vance has been investigating Trump for potential tax fraud and has been requesting his financial records to present before a grand jury.
As Bloomberg News reporter Jennifer Jacobs notes, the Supreme Court's ruling "puts a new New York grand jury on the brink of getting eight years of Trump's tax returns and other financial records."
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Subject: Re: Trump Criminal/Civil Investigations Move Forward- Mon Feb 22, 2021 11:04 am
2-22-2021
'It's how they got Al Capone': Trump taunted after his SCOTUS appointees fail to block release of tax returns.
News that the Supreme Court is allowing Manhattan's district attorney access to Donald Trump's tax returns -- the ones he promised to share for over four years -- was greeted with great joy by critics of the former president after the unsigned opinion indicated that none of Trump's three appointees to the high court stood in its way.
The bombshell decision that NBC's Pete Williams called "the end of the road" for Trump will allow a grand jury to compare how the former New Yorker valued and represented his properties in his tax filings to how he listed the property's values when applying for loans that could reveal fraud.
It was not lost on critics of Trump that, having survived a Senate trial for inciting violence at the U.S. Capitol, Trump may be tripped up by tax fraud just like noted mobster Al Capone.
With that in mind, Twitter users piled on the one-term president whose worse nightmare -- exposing his true worth -- could be about to come true.
Trump served with civil rights lawsuit for Jan. 6 insurrection.
Former president Donald Trump has been served with a civil rights lawsuit that accuses him of inciting the deadly Jan. 6 insurrection.
Attorneys for Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-MS) and the NAACP formally served the lawsuit, which was filed in February, to the former president at his Mar-A-Lago club, reported The Daily Beast.
"Donald Trump has to go away," Thompson said last month. "If he doesn't, we will put him out of business."
The suit alleges that Trump incited the riot at the U.S. Capitol with his false claims about a "stolen" election, which the complaint says amounted to a conspiracy under the 1871 "Klan Act" to interfere with civil rights by stopping the certification of Joe Biden's Electoral College win.
The complaint names Trump, along with his attorney Rudy Giuliani, the Proud Boys and the Oath Keepers, as defendants.
No attorneys have stepped forward as Trump's representative in the lawsuit, which was signed for by someone named "Ricky" when it arrived at Mar-A-Lago by certified mail.
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Subject: Re: Trump Criminal/Civil Investigations Move Forward- Sat Mar 06, 2021 6:35 pm
3-6-2021
Prosecutor probing Trump hires expert who wrote the book on racketeering cases.
The District Attorney in Atlanta has hired an expert on state racketeering cases in an escalation into the investigation into Donald Trump attempting to overturn Georgia's 2020 presidential election results.
"The district attorney investigating whether former U.S. President Donald Trump illegally interfered with Georgia's 2020 election has hired an outside lawyer who is a national authority on racketeering," Reuters reported Saturday, citing "a source familiar with the matter."
"Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis has enlisted the help of Atlanta lawyer John Floyd, who wrote a national guide on prosecuting state racketeering cases.
Floyd was hired recently to 'provide help as needed' on matters involving racketeering, including the Trump investigation and other cases, said the source, who has direct knowledge of the situation.
The move bolsters the team investigating Trump as Willis prepares to issue subpoenas for evidence on whether the former president and his allies broke the law in their campaign to pressure state officials to reverse his Georgia election loss.
Willis has said that her office would examine potential charges including 'solicitation of election fraud, the making of false statements to state and local governmental bodies, conspiracy, racketeering' among other possible violations," Reuters reported.
Before Reuters reported on the personnel addition, former U.S. Attorney Michael Moore said Trump was already in big trouble because of his hour-long, recorded phone call pressuring Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger to "find" an extra 11,000 votes.
Trump insider ‘refuses to be silenced’ — and is cooperating with investigators:
On Monday, Business Insider reported that the former daughter-in-law of ex-President Donald Trump's longtime CFO is cooperating with investigators looking into the Trump Organization's finances.
"An attorney representing the former daughter-in-law of the Trump Organization CFO Allen Weisselberg says she's cooperating with prosecutors conducting an inquiry into Donald Trump's finances and 'refuses to be silenced,'" reported Jacob Shamsian.
"'Jennifer Weisselberg is committed to speaking the truth, no matter how difficult that may be,' her attorney, Duncan Levin, told Insider in a statement. 'She will continue to cooperate fully with the various law enforcement agencies that are investigating her ex-husband's family and the very powerful interests they represent.'"
Weisselberg is one of Trump's longest-serving business partners. Experts have speculated that, because he knows everything about the Trump Organization's accounting, he would be one of the biggest possible threats to Trump if he flipped on him in a criminal investigation.
So far, Weisselberg does not appear to have divulged any secrets. However, Trump's former attorney and fixer Michael Cohen has suggested he may ultimately cooperate to save himself and his family.
Trump’s longtime bodyguard implicated in ex-president’s alleged tax evasion scheme.
Donald Trump's longtime bodyguard Matthew Calimari could become a focus of prosecutors in Manhattan now that they have the former president's tax records.
Former Trump attorney Michael Cohen, who will speak with prosecutors Friday for the eighth time, told lawmakers in 2019 that Calimari was familiar with Trump's alleged scheme to inflate the value of his assets to insurance companies as part of a tax evasion scheme, and Yahoo News reported the former bodyguard could become the next target for investigators.
Manhattan prosecutors are already trying to gain the cooperation of longtime Trump Organization chief financial officer Allen Weisselberg, who Cohen believes will eventually flip under pressure, but investigators may also be interested in Calimari's testimony, as well.
Calimari has worked for the former president for 40 years, starting when Trump hired him as a bodyguard after seeing the former college football player tackle a heckler, and he and his namesake son reportedly ran surveillance operations at Trump's properties.
His LinkedIn page lists Calimari as the Trump Organization's chief operating officer, where he oversees building management, construction and insurance.
Trump must face 'Apprentice' contestant's defamation lawsuit: NY court.
Trump had argued before leaving the White House on Jan. 20 that Summer Zervos could not pursue her case because a sitting president could not be sued, but the state Court of Appeals said in a brief order that “the issues presented have become moot.”
Zervos’ case will now return to a Manhattan trial court, where her lawyers may have an opportunity to question Trump under oath. The case had been on hold during Trump’s appeal.
“Now a private citizen, the defendant has no further excuse to delay justice for Ms. Zervos, and we are eager to get back to the trial court and prove her claims,” Beth Wilkinson, a lawyer for Zervos, said in an email.
Lawyers for Trump did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Zervos came forward during the 2016 presidential campaign with accusations that Trump subjected her to unwanted kissing and groping after she sought career advice in 2007, two years after her appearance on his reality television show.
She sued Trump in January 2017 after he branded such allegations by women “lies” and retweeted a post calling Zervos’ claims a “hoax.”
Zervos has sought a retraction or an apology, plus compensatory damages and punitive damages.
Trump has denied Zervos’ claims, and called her case politically motivated.
Former Elle magazine columnist E. Jean Carroll is also suing Trump for defamation, after he denied having raped her in the Bergdorf Goodman department store in Manhattan in the mid-1990s.
Trump has also denied claims by several other women of improper sexual conduct.
((((I'm looking forward to the Jean Carroll rape case- to see/hear trump testify..and the DNA test granted against him to give his DNA)))
Two Capitol Police Officers Sue Trump for Directing Mob That Attacked Them.
Two longtime Capitol Police officers who were injured in the Jan. 6 riot are suing former President Donald Trump over the violent mob they say he “inflamed, encouraged, incited, directed, and aided and abetted.”
In a complaint filed Tuesday in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, James Blassingame and Sidney Hemby accuse Trump of inciting a riot that caused them “physical and emotional injuries.”
Hemby is described as an 11-year veteran of the force, and Blassingame a 17-year veteran. “Both United States Capitol Police Officers reported for duty on January 6, 2021, without any suspicion that they would soon become the targets of Trump’s followers,” the complaint reads.
But soon enough, after goading from Trump, according to the complaint, the insurrectionists stormed the Capitol and Hemby was “attacked relentlessly” while Blassingame was beaten all over the body and bombarded with racial slurs, the complaint says.
“Foremost in Officer Blassingame’s mind was the terrifying certainty that the insurrectionists were interested in him and the other officers not going home to their families that night,” the document reads. “Trump, by his words and conduct, directed the mob that stormed the Capitol and assaulted and battered James Blassingame and Sidney Hemby,” it states, noting that the “insurrectionists were spurred on by Trump’s conduct over many months in getting his followers to believe his false allegation” that the election was stolen from him. The two officers are seeking unspecified damages for the physical and emotional distress they suffered.
'There’s no room for secrecy': Boston paper calls on Trump appointees to come clean on his 'horror show' COVID-19 response.
In a featured Easter morning piece, the editorial board of the Boston Globe called on members of the Donald Trump COVID-19 task force to come forward and reveal what went on behind the scenes that led to over 500,000 American deaths and the wrecking of the economy.
Writing that the Democratic-controlled Congress needs to hold hearings, the editorial began.
"Yes, Donald Trump made their jobs nearly impossible. Still, the doctors, scientists, and officials who contributed to the bungling of the initial response to COVID-19 last year owe the public much more now than just their recent self-serving efforts to salvage their reputations.
Americans have suffered, and continue to suffer, an almost unimaginable tragedy that erupted on the previous administration's watch.
The nation needs an independent accounting of how the richest and most scientifically advanced country in the world ended up in this horror show, an inquiry in which every former member of the Trump administration should cooperate."
Noting that the current "post-mortem" of the Trump administration's handling of the health crisis seems to be made up entirely of "score settling," the board insisted all of the facts need to come out.
"There is no doubt, of course, that the primary responsibility for mishandling the crisis rests with the former president himself, who set the tone of denialism, wishful thinking, and incompetence that pervaded the federal response from the beginning," they wrote.
"Over the last four years, competent officials across the federal government have had to search their conscience in the same way as the medical team, wondering whether staying in government amounted to complicity or whether leaving would only have made the Trump presidency worse."
The editorial went on, "But if the former Trump officials want Americans to believe they were fighting the good fight from the inside and rebuffing the president's worst instincts, there's no room for secrecy or spin now.
They should be leading the charge for Congress to create an investigation to document exactly how the failures of the last year happened, and how they can be avoided in the future."
Trump Organization taps criminal defense attorney as Manhattan prosecutors close in on business dealings.
On Wednesday, the Wall Street Journal reported that former President Donald Trump's family business has retained Ronald Fischetti, a high-powered criminal defense lawyer, as New York prosecutors continue to investigate Trump's finances.
"Mr. Fischetti, 84 years old, is a former law partner of Mark Pomerantz, the former federal prosecutor working on the investigation for the office of Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr.
"Mr. Vance's office has said it is investigating possible bank, tax or insurance fraud," said the report.
"Prosecutors have subpoenaed information from former President Donald Trump's banks, lenders, an insurance broker and other parties, The Wall Street Journal has previously reported.
They are examining financial transactions at Manhattan properties including Mr. Trump's flagship Trump Tower; Seven Springs, an estate in Westchester, N.Y.; and a hotel in Chicago, The Journal reported."
The investigation accelerated after a February Supreme Court ruling that Vance could obtain the president's tax returns. A previous report indicated that state prosecutors are also subpoenaing the financial records of Allen Weisselberg, the longtime Trump Organization CFO.
Manhattan Trump investigation expands to salary and benefits paid to son of Trump Org exec:
According to The Washington Post, Manhattan prosecutors are now looking into the suspicious salary and benefits paid out from the Trump Organization to Barry Weisselberg, the son of the organization's CFO and the manager of Trump's ice skating rinks.
"Former president Donald Trump's company paid a skating rink manager more than $200,000 in annual salary, $40,000 yearly bonuses and provided free company-owned apartments for his family, according to testimony of the employee, Barry Weisselberg and his financial documents," reported Shayna Jacobs, Jonathan O'Connell.
David A. Fahrenthold. "Such payments and perks, as well as other financial support provided to Weisselberg and his family, have drawn new scrutiny from Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus R. Vance Jr. (D) as a potentially key component of his ongoing criminal investigation into the former president's business activity and finances."
According to the report, "On Thursday, Barry Weisselberg's ex-wife, Jennifer Weisselberg, provided documents and a laptop to Vance's office in response to a grand jury subpoena requiring her to produce all of the records she possessed for her ex-husband's bank accounts and credit cards plus his statements of net worth and tax filings ...
The documents show an array of payments and perks that Barry Weisselberg and his family received as a result of his employment for Trump's company over 18 years, likely raising key questions for investigators analyzing the finances of the cash-only skating rink and working to ascertain whether the proper taxes were paid."
The Trump Organization's management of the Wollman Rink has raised suspicion and scrutiny due to the fact that visitors were required to pay cash only.
The report noted that prosecutors could try to use tax or financial charges against Barry Weisselberg to flip Allen Weisselberg against Trump. The older Weisselberg, one of Trump's longest and closest allies, has thus far resisted pressure to cooperate against his longtime employer.
Trump could be forced to testify at New York trial after court dismisses his appeal.
Former President Donald Trump potentially testifying in a New York lawsuit filed by a group of protesters who claim his bodyguards assaulted them came one step closer to reality this Tuesday, The Daily Beast reports.
The lawsuit is in regards to an incident in 2015 where the protesters gathered outside Trump Tower in New York to protest Trump's remarks disparaging Mexican immigrants. According to the lawsuit, several of Trump's bodyguards "violently attacked" the protesters.
As president, Trump tried to avoid the subpoena demanding that he testify and sit for a videotaped deposition beforehand. His request was denied and his lawyers appealed in 2019. But this Tuesday, the state's Appellate Division dismissed the appeal.
"This appeal concerning the proper standard for determining whether a sitting President may be compelled to give videotaped trial testimony about unofficial acts in a civil action against him or her is moot given that the rights of parties will not be directly affected by our determination," the court said in its ruling, "and that there will not be an immediate consequence of the judgment."
Congress obtains Trump hotel documents from Biden administration:.
Congress is continuing to obtain public documents that were blocked from being released by the Trump administration.
"The General Services Administration has provided House Democrats with documents related to former President Donald Trump's Washington hotel, in the second case this week where the Biden administration gave the House information that the Trump administration had blocked it from obtaining," CNN reported. "The Biden administration revealed in a court filing on Friday that the House committee had asked for the records and the GSA had turned over some of them last week.
The request was resubmitted by House Transportation Chair Peter DeFazio (D-OR).
"The GSA responded in a letter to DeFazio last week that it was turning over some of the requested records, including monthly financial statements from the Trump hotel, audits and lease amendments -- though the GSA declined to provide legal memorandums, arguing that those records were part of 'internal executive branch legal advice.'
The letter from the GSA said it was still working to fulfill DeFazio's request for memos and communications from the White House or other federal agencies related to the lease of the Old Post Office Building," CNN reported.
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Subject: BREAKING; Trump Civil Investigation Now Criminal Tue May 18, 2021 8:50 pm
5-18-2021
New York attorney general joins Manhattan DA's criminal investigation of Trump Organization.
New York Attorney General Letitia James will join the Manhattan District Attorney's investigation into the Trump Organization.
The news came from the AG's office noting that D.A. Cyrus Vance Jr.'s investigation into the Trump business
"We have informed the Trump Organization that our investigation into the org is not purely civil in nature. We are actively investigating the Trump Org. in a criminal capacity along with the Manhattan DA."
It's unclear how long the investigation has been a criminal one.
Legal experts and politicos flocked to Twitter upon the news that the New York attorney general is joining the criminal complaint against former President Donald Trump's New York company.
In a statement from Attorney General Letitia James' spokesperson, it was revealed that the Trump Organization was informed that they're now part of a New York criminal probe along with the financial probe from the district attorney.
Former New Jersey federal prosecutor Elie Honig told CNN's Don Lemon that the NYAG saw something and that's why they're joining the DA's case.
It was clearly "something that has led them to expand and change the nature of their investigation because going back to 2019, the New York attorney general has been in the civil lane not criminal while the D.A. has been in the criminal lane," said Honig.
"Now the AG has seen something that's prompted them to make a decision to say, 'now we need to cross over and join you, district attorney's office, on the criminal side. That's a big move.
We don't know what it is or what it was. I want to say this about the New York's attorney general's office, I've worked with them on various cases. They don't do every kind of crime. If there's one thing they specialize in, it's complex fraud, that's what they pride themselves on. It's in their wheelhouse so it's a significant development and certainly not good news for the Trump Organization."
Trump's people are refusing to comment.
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Subject: Re: Trump Criminal/Civil Investigations Move Forward- Sun May 23, 2021 8:08 pm
5-23-2021
Watergate prosecutor explains what could 'totally wipe out the Trump Organization'
Former Watergate investigator and prosecutor Jill Wine-Banks explained Sunday that former President Donald Trump might have ten civil lawsuits, but they won't be what sinks him financially
However, Wine-Banks noted that Trump had used other banks and other loans to pay off existing ones.
Forbes senior editor Dan Alexander, author of "White House Inc.," has calculated the ex-president's net worth at about $2.5 billion, with assets totaling $3.7 billion and debts standing at roughly $1.13 billion.
Some of the lawsuits against Trump are personal ones that might not go to his business, but since he used his business to do hush-money payments, it could impact his corporate funds.
"His popularity has diminished greatly," said Wine-Banks. "His properties are of less value now. Many buildings are taking the name Trump off of them because it is a deterrent to people, either playing golf at his golf courses or a deterrent to people buying condos in his buildings.
So, it will hurt his bottom line both in terms of penalties — think about how many millions he may owe the federal government on the long-festering audit that he said was the reason he couldn't turn over his financial records.
Think about the bank loans that we know are coming due, and his income has gone down as best everybody can tell from all the reporting. So, where is he going to get the money to pay back those loans, and now a lot of banks will simply not lend to him anymore. How is he going to change the source of income to pay back the original lender with new lenders?
It could totally wipe out the Trump Organization. There are some questions about some fraud in real estate and in defrauding people who bought condos. All of that mounts up, and eventually, the money runs out. So, he should be worried not just about whether he will be charged with a crime and whether a jury will convict him, but with being bankrupted."
Secret Service agents could be called to testify against Donald Trump.
With the shifting of investigations on former President Donald Trump, there's a possibility that Secret Service agents might be asked to testify.
Senior Washington correspondent for BusinessInsider, Dave Levinthal, explained to SiriusXM host Julie Mason Monday morning that it harkens back to the days of former President Bill Clinton and the Ken Starr investigation. In that case, Levinthal explained that agents were subpoenaed to testify before the grand jury.
Given Secret Service agents followed Donald Trump Jr., Ivanka Trump, Jared Kushner, and Eric Trump it could make for a lot of agents who witnessed many things. There is no law on the books that prevents agents from testifying.
Levinthal went on to explain that most of the legal challenges that Trump faces are related to his businesses, but as president, he was accused of using the office for his own financial benefit. So, agents could be called to testify about that.
There's also the matter of what Trump did to intervene in the Georgia election that could have fallen under election fraud.
Manhattan DA convenes grand jury to determine whether Trump or his family should be indicted:
Manhattan District Attorney Cy Vance has convened a grand jury that will investigate, among other things, whether former President Donald Trump, his family, or his business associates should be indicted in connection with his criminal investigation.
"The panel was convened recently and will sit three days a week for six months," reported Shayna Jacobs and David Fahrenthold.
"It is likely to hear several matters — not just the Trump case — during the duration of its term, which is longer than a traditional New York state grand-jury assignment, these people said.
Like others, they spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss an ongoing investigation. Generally, special grand juries such as this one are convened to participate in long-term matters rather than to hear evidence of crimes charged routinely."
"Vance's investigation is expansive, according to people familiar the probe and public disclosures made during related litigation," said the report.
"His investigators are scrutinizing Trump's business practices before he was president, including whether the value of specific properties in the Trump Organization's real estate portfolio were manipulated in a way that defrauded banks and insurance companies, and if any tax benefits were obtained illegally through unscrupulous asset valuation."
Petition served to reconsider cash payments Trump made for Scottish golf course.
The human rights nonprofit group Avaaz has filed a petition in Scotland's civil court seeking a review of the government's decision not to investigate the payments for Donald Trump's resorts.
In an exclusive report, Reuters revealed that the petition was served Monday.
"Trump, after decades of buying properties with debt, spent more than $300 million in cash purchasing and developing the Scottish courses, neither of which has turned a profit," said Reuters.
"Some Scottish politicians have cited mounting investigations into Trump's U.S. financial interests as grounds to scrutinize his business dealings in Britain.
In an effort to fight money laundering and target illicit wealth of foreign officials, Reuters explained that the British government issued orders in 2018 about the cash payments. If Trump's company couldn't verify that the money was "clean" they could seize the property.
According to Avaaz, the Scottish Parliament members who voted against the review of Trump's payments were using flawed legal understanding.
"Such a continued misapplication of the law would be contrary to the rule of law," it said.
"Avaaz challenges that reasoning in its court action, which asks the Court of Session in Edinburgh to rule that Scotland's ministers have sole responsibility to determine whether to apply for an unexplained wealth order and cannot delegate that responsibility to other people or institutions," said Reuters.
The court filing argued that the legal standard was met and Scottish leaders failed to perform their duty. If the court agrees with Avaaz, there could be a new argument in court.
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Subject: Re: Trump Criminal/Civil Investigations Move Forward- Thu May 27, 2021 1:27 am
5-27-2021
Prosecutors in Trump criminal investigation have instructed at least one witness to prepare to testify.
Prosecutors in the Manhattan District Attorney's Office have instructed at least one witness to prepare to testify before a grand jury. The Manhattan DA recently empaneled a special grand jury that is slated to serve six months, hear evidence, and determine if Donald Trump, the Trump Organization, or any Trump Organization employees, including family members, should be charged with crimes.
Calling it "a signal that the lengthy investigation is moving into an advanced stage," CNN reports the "development suggests that the Manhattan district attorney's office is poised to transition from collecting evidence to presenting what is likely a complex case to a grand jury, one that could result in the jury considering criminal charges."
Vance's investigation began in 2018, so his office has had the better part of three years to compile evidence, especially amid a very active (now former) president who reportedly is facing at least 14 civil and criminal cases, according to Just Security.
'They got the mother lode': Former prosecutor says new grand jury has everything on Trump.
White House" Tuesday, former federal prosecutor Harry Litman discussed the full extent of what evidence the New York grand jury weighing charges against former President Donald Trump would have for their consideration.
"The grand jury's going to get everything and that's true," said Litman. "We know that the — that was the inception of the case, but then, they got the mother lode.
They got the tax returns, going back and forth to the Supreme Court twice to get them. So, that takes all kinds of transactions of this sort and forms the basis for possibly multiple counts where people surmise and it stands to reason that it's a similar kind of hanky-panky, changing the way you valuate same properties, one for tax to make it look low, one for loans to make it look high, that's fraud on both entities."
"I think what is happening, likely, is a plethora of transactions like that, like that core one with Stormy Daniels, which we are learning is sort of the Trump way of doing business, the general MO, and also including [Trump Organization CFO Allen] Weisselberg," added Litman.
Trump Org appears 'rotten to its core' — their modus operandi was 'corrupt': legal expert.
Former Deputy Assistant Attorney General Harry Litman on Friday explained why the Trump Organization is facing state racketeering charges in New York.
"We're learning more today about Manhattan District Attorney CY Vance and the criminal charges he may be considering against Donald Trump and his business empire.
Former prosecutors and defense attorneys tell Politico that Vance could bring charges under a New York law known as "Little RICO" that resembles the federal racketeering statute it can carry a prison term of up to 25 years."
"'Little RICO means it's New York's version of "Big RIco," which is the Feds," Litman explained. "What's it look like? It looks like the focus is really the enterprise — that the Trump Organization is sort of rotten to its core.
If you hear the sort of accounts of Jennifer Weisselberg, Michal Cohen, Mary Trump, they all say it's not just Trump isolated crimes, not just Weisselberg, it was a way of doing business, an M.O. that was corrupt. That's how they did things there and that makes for a corrupt enterprise."
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Subject: Re: Trump Criminal/Civil Investigations Move Forward- Sun May 30, 2021 3:26 pm
5-28-2021
Key Trump property at center of fraud investigation, newly published subpoenas show:
The Daily Beast on Friday evening published three subpoenas that have not yet been previously seen by the general public.
"As two separate investigations into the Trump Organization heat up, a series of subpoenas issued by the New York attorney general and the Manhattan district attorney shows how prosecutors are probing one particular land deal," The Beast reported.
The subpoenas were issued to the towns of Bedford, New Castle, and North Castle.
"The subpoenas, which have not been publicly released until now, have been issued during the past 18 months to three towns just north of New York City,"
The Beast explained. "Investigators asked for a trove of documents related to Donald Trump's failed attempts to develop a luxury golf course on a 212-acre, forested estate that spans across those three towns and includes several mansions. The requested documents and subsequent court filings show that investigators are examining whether The Trump Organization inflated the value of the property for a charitable tax write-off."
"The Daily Beast has learned the state Attorney General's Office issued a round of subpoenas in November 2019. Investigators demanded copies of 'zoning, property planning, or other building and construction permissions' sought by Trump's firm for the property, Seven Springs LLC.
At question is the dense forest that surrounds a towering, 60-room, century-old, sandstone chateau that includes three pools, carriage houses, and is imposing enough to justify its own forecourt and fountain," The Beast explained. "Think: Bruce Wayne. (There's even a massive suspected bat population on the grounds of the estate.)"
When locals fought Trump's efforts to develop the property, Trump gave away development rights for $21 million deduction. At it's heart, the investigators are seeking to examine if the property was worth that much if it couldn't be developed.
We just published some of the grand jury subpoenas that the New York AG & Manhattan DA are using to examine Trump's… https://t.co/kdz6kdkdLI — ???????????????? ???????????????????????????????? (@???????????????? ????????????????????????????????) 1622249
Investigators reportedly approaching Trump Org as if it were a mafia family.
Prosecutors appear to be treating their investigation of former President Donald Trump's business empire as if it were a mafia family, according to several reports out this week.
Manhattan District Attorney Cy Vance is likely considering criminal charges centered around the idea that the Trump Organization is a "corrupt enterprise" under a New York state racketeering statute resembling the federal RICO law — an abbreviation for the Racketeering Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, which was passed in 1970 to crack down on pervasive organized crime — several legal experts and former prosecutors told Politico.
"No self-respecting state white-collar prosecutor would forgo considering the enterprise corruption charge," longtime New York City defense attorney Robert Anello said. "I'm sure they're thinking about that."
The law, known colloquially as "little RICO," kicks in if prosecutors can establish that an organization or business has committed at least three separate crimes — a "pattern of criminal behavior," in legal parlance. A sentence under the statute can result in up to 25 years in prison — with a mandatory minimum of one year.
Vance has even hired a veteran mob prosecutor and expert in white-collar crime, Mark Pomerantz, to bolster his team, the New York Times reported in February.
Trump himself has a long history with several prominent New York City mob families — building his signature Trump Tower in Manhattan with help from a concrete company run by Anthony "Fat Tony" Salerno and Paul Castellano, who at the time were bosses of the Genovese and Gambino families, Business Insider reported.
And just like in the investigations that put Salerno and Castellano behind bars, it appears prosecutors are hoping to rely on the testimony of "family" members like Trump Organization CFO Alan Weisselberg, one of the company's longest-tenured employees. His former daughter-in-law, Jennifer Weisselberg, is cooperating with Vance's investigation and says she believes her ex-husband's father will flip on Trump due to his age and aversion to spending any time in prison.
New York Attorney General Letitia James, who recently agreed to join forces with Vance on her separate investigation of Trump's business dealings, has also forced Trump's son, Eric, to sit for a deposition interview, according to the New York Times.
But the decision to pursue racketeering charges carries its own risks, and many legal experts say prosecutors are better off seeking straightforward indictments on specific crimes that are easier to litigate.
"Why overcharge and complicate something that could be fairly simple?" Jeremy Saland, a former prosecutor in the Manhattan DA's office, told Politico. "Why muddy up the water? Why give a defense attorney something that could confuse a jury and be able to crow that they beat a charge in a motion to dismiss?"
Trump has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing, and blasted the investigations as politically inspired "witch hunts."
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