When Allen Weisselberg was indicted by prosecutors in Manhattan earlier this month, the information that led to his being charged was provided by a member of his family who is proving to be an invaluable source of information and is also exposing many dark secrets at the heart of both Weisselberg and former President Donald Trump’s families.
The Daily Beast reports that a great deal of the evidence used to indict Weisselberg came from his former daughter-in-law:
“What investigators didn’t know was that the proof was in the hands of Jennifer Weisselberg, the woman once married to Barry Weisselberg, the son of Allen Weisselberg. And it wasn’t until November 2020 that city and state investigators connected with her to acquire the evidence.
“The Daily Beast has obtained some of the records that, according to Ms. Weisselberg and her lawyer, have proved pivotal to last week’s indictment of the Trump Organization CFO.”
Barry Weisselberg was also instrumental in helping get his father indicted, though he didn’t know it when he sat for a deposition during divorce proceedings:
Allen Weisselberg paid more than $50,000 each year for his grandchildren to attend a prestigious private school, and he did so for at least six years. And that’s where the Donald Trump connection comes into play:
“New York investigators would later ask Jennifer Weisselberg about that financial arrangement, according to two people in the room. They said prosecutors’ eyes widened when she explained that Trump himself would sign a check that she would hand deliver to the school.”
Those facts were mentioned in the indictments unsealed in court last week:
“That detail made its way into page seven of last week’s indictment: ‘as part of the scheme to defraud, Trump Corporation personnel, including Weisselberg, arranged for tuition expenses for Weisselberg’s family members to be paid by personal checks drawn on the account of and signed by Donald J. Trump.'”
The checks written by Trump were employee compensation and should have been taxed. They weren’t.
Additionally, the indictments against the Trump Organization and Weisselberg lay out how Trump also paid for luxury apartments provided to members of the Weisselberg family. And those also wound up in the filing:
There are more fireworks (and indictments) on the way. Some will come from the Manhattan DA and others from New York Attorney General Letitia James:
“The Manhattan District Attorney and New York Attorney General, which have struck a rare partnership to prosecute this together, have hinted that there’s more to come. Questions asked of witnesses, who spoke to The Daily Beast on condition of anonymity, show that investigators are interested in other executives as well.
“And as the current case centers on questions about untaxed ‘fringe benefits,’ the DA and AG will have to prove who tweaked salaries—and whether they knew about tax rules.”
Remember when Trump debated Hillary Clinton back in 2016 and she accused him of not paying taxes? He proudly declared:
“That makes me smart.”
It also makes him a co-conspirator in a financial crime that could send him to prison for the remainder of his life.
How smart are you now, Donald?
