Tag: Cyrus Vance Jr.

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Crime Donald Trump

Trump Is About To Be Indicted In New York On Charges Of Racketeering: Report

A Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist who has written extensively about failed, one-term former President Donald Trump said Saturday on MSNBC that the ex-president is about to be indicted in New York on charges of racketeering.

According to David Kay Johnston, the charges will come from the office of Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance, Jr., who has been investigating Trump for allegedly misleading lenders and tax officials about the real value of his properties.

Johnston told host Yasmin Vossoughian:

“I anticipate they’re going to bring a racketeering charge against Trump. Certainly Trump’s team, when he’s indicted, and I’m certain he will be indicted, is going to try to lay the blame on everybody else, and so what the prosecutors want to show that is if (Trump Organization Chief Financial Officer) Allen Weisselberg phonied up documents, it was at the direction of Donald Trump.”

Vossoughian asked if Johnston was certain about his reporting, to which he replied:

“Oh, yeah. They would not have done all of this and know how much they know … if they weren’t going to to do this. Yeah, they will indict him. Exactly when? I don’t know. I don’t expect it will be on a straight tax charge. I think there will be a tax charge, but the key charge will be racketeering.”

Johnston also laid out what will happen once an indictment is handed down against Trump:

“Once he’s indicted, Trump will have to surrender himself to be booked. I’m sure he will be released on his own recognizance, and then we will see a campaign of trying to delay trial. You will see Donald say, ‘This is corrupt, the prosecutors are corrupt, the police are corrupt, the auditors are corrupt,’ because that’s what Roy Cohn taught him when he was a young man — accuse law enforcement, and then delay, delay, delay.”

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Crime Donald Trump

Manhattan DA Has An ‘Insider’ At The Trump Organization: Report

For months now, we’ve seen reports that prosecutors in the office of Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance, Jr. have been trying to get Allen Weisselberg, the chief financial officer of the Trump Organization, to flip on Donald Trump and tell what he knows to investigators.

But what if Vance already has an insider that can provide just as much evidence as Weisselberg and has already appeared before a grand jury that may be handing down more indictments in the coming months?

That’s exactly what Andrew Weissman, the top prosecutor in the Mueller investigation, believes has happened.

Appearing on MSNBC’s “The Beat” recently, Weissmann told host Ari Melber:

“I’d like to throw out one more name, which is Jeff McConney, because I don’t think that’s gotten enough attention because last week the reports were that he went into the state grand jury and he is the controller of the Trump Organization So, again, all speculation, but clearly you’re looking for an insider. That’s why there is so much focus on Allen Weisselberg trying to get somebody who is on the inside who would know where every penny went. Well, that’s the controller as well as the CFO. So if Jeff McConney is cooperating, that is really bad news potentially for Weisselberg and for the Trump Organization and other individuals up to and including the former president.”

McConney has access to the same financial information as Weisselberg, Weissmann noted, meaning that there’s a very good chance he’s already spilled his guts to Vance’s prosecutors to keep from being charged with various crimes.

Weissmann then added:

“In other words, Manhattan may have found their insider, because it would be unusual to put somebody like McConney into the state grand jury, where he would be given immunity as soon as he testifies automatically, if they didn’t think that he had something useful to provide.”

It certainly makes perfect sense that prosecutors might have gone around Weisselberg and subpoenaed McConney first, if only to see if what he says matches up with Weisselberg’s testimony when he appears before the Manhattan grand jury.

No wonder Trump is reportedly sweating over what’s happening with Vance’s investigation. It appears the DA is gathering all the evidence and leaving no stone unturned. That alone tells you the future doesn’t look bright for the Donald.

 

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Corruption Crime Donald Trump

Manhattan DA May Also File State Racketeering Charges Against The Trump Organization

Now that Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr. has indicted the Trump Organization and Chief Financial Officer Allen Weisselberg, it’s clearer than ever that the justice system is starting to catch up with Donald Trump and those associated with him.

And now there’s a new twist to the case against Trump, with legal experts saying that Vance’s office may be planning to file state racketeering charges against the Trump Organization, which would give them more leverage over potential witnesses and also lead to greater penalties for those who are convicted, Politico reports:

“Manhattan District Attorney Cy Vance could be considering a criminal charge that former President Donald Trump’s business empire was a corrupt enterprise under a New York law resembling the federal racketeering statute known as RICO, former prosecutors and defense attorneys said.

New York’s enterprise corruption statute — which carries the potential for severe penalties — can be applied to money-making businesses alleged to have repeatedly engaged in criminal activity as a way to boost their bottom line.”

New York’s organized corruption statute, which is often referred to as “little RICO,” can be used if there are as few as three crimes involving a business located in the Empire State and carries a prison term of up to 25 years, which would be a death sentence for Donald Trump, who turns 75 next month.

Manhattan defense attorney Robert Anello said he’s certain Vance is considering bringing charges under the New York RICO law:

“I’m sure they’re thinking about that. No self-respecting state white-collar prosecutor would forgo considering the enterprise corruption charge.”

Anello’s comments were echoed by Michael Shapiro, who used to prosecute corruption cases in New York:

“It’s a very serious crime. Certainly, there are plenty of things an organization or business could do to run afoul of enterprise corruption, if they’re all done with the purpose of enhancing the revenue of the enterprise illegally. … It’s an umbrella everything else fits under.”

The crimes the former president’s company is suspected of having committed include submitting inflated real estate valuations to banks and insurance companies while reporting those same properties as undervalued when it came time to pay taxes. There have also been rumors that Trump may have used his corporation to launder ill-gotten funds from organized crime outfits in the United States and Russia.

Also under investigation by the Manhattan DA’s office are the hush money payments made during the 2016 campaign to two women who had sexual encounters with Trump and were paid in order to remain silent. Those payoffs, according to legal experts, may well violate New York laws against making false statements as part of a company’s business records.

As for the newly formed grand jury, attorneys say it is almost certain to go along with whatever charges Vance is seeking against Trump and his company, with Shapiro noting:

“The prosecutors work together with the grand jury, day to day. … The natural thing that happens is everyone gets the idea we’re all on the same team. Ultimately, the grand jury will do what the prosecutors asks them to do. … If at the end of a number of months, this grand jury is asked to bring charges against Trump and others, they’ll do it — 999 times out of 1,000 they do it.”

In other words, the likelihood that Trump and others in his orbit are going to be indicted is all but certain.

 

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Crime Donald Trump

Manhattan DA Lining Up Witnesses To Testify Against Trump At Upcoming Trial: Report

Based on a new report from Bess Levin of Vanity Fair and confirmed by reporting from Reuters, it now appears that Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr. is moving along at a rapid pace with his investigation of failed, one-term former President Donald Trump and is lining up witnesses who will testify against Trump along with others who will help explain to a jury the exact crimes Trump and his company, the Trump Organization, may have committed.

According to Levin:

“In the last several months, the D.A. has brought on the attorney who put John Gotti and other white-collar criminals behind bars, has reportedly been working to flip the Trump Organizations longtime CFO, and, most crucially, obtained Trump’s much sought-after tax returns, documents that the Queens-born real estate developer has gone to such extreme lengths to keep secret that some people have gotten the impression they contain extremely incriminating information.

“Now, Vance’s office has taken the next step in its criminal investigation: finding people who can explain to a jury why Trump is a possible crook.”

Specifically, Vance is looking for bankers, bookkeepers, and real estate experts who can help shed light on how Trump may have broken the law by inflating the value of his real estate holdings in order to get large loans from banks while simultaneously devaluing those same properties when paying taxes on them. Those two acts alone would constitute bank and tax fraud.

Prosecutors in Vance’s office also hope to present witnesses who have first-hand experience working on deals made by Trump to explain documents and how that data proves specific criminal acts by the former president and his company.

There’s also the matter of Trump’s tax returns, eight years of which Vance obtained thanks to a ruling from the U.S. Supreme Court. It has long been believed that those returns are the Rosetta Stone that will unlock the secrets of how Trump has shifted and hidden money over the decades in an effort to skirt accountability and give the illusion that his net worth is larger than it actually is. Those returns may also contain proof of financial ties to countries and entities in nations hostile to the United States such as Russia and China.

And don’t forget about Trump’s former attorney, Michael Cohen, who is expected to be a star witness against his former client:

“As for Cohen, whose credibility will surely be challenged by whatever lawyers Trump manages to scrounge up, said that “unfortunately for Trump, I have backed up each and every question posed by the district attorney’s office [with] documentary evidence.” If Vance’s team can corroborate Cohen’s testimony, Brodsky told Reuters, that would be “very powerful before a jury.” The government, he said, “loves people who plead guilty to crimes, take the stand and say,…‘I participated in a crime with that person sitting right there at the defense table, Donald J. Trump.'”

Evidence and witnesses are the key to any criminal case. It sounds like Vance has plenty of both, which is very bad news for Donald Trump.

 

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Business Crime Donald Trump

Chief Financial Officer Of The Trump Organization Reportedly Ready To Tell ‘Where All The Bodies Are Buried’

Prosecutors in the office of Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr. have turned their focus to Allen H. Weisselberg, who has served as chief financial officer of the Trump Organization for decades, and are clearly hoping to get him to turn state’s evidence and implicate former President Donald Trump, along with members of his family, according to a report from the New York Times:

“The increased focus on the executive, Allen H. Weisselberg, could step up pressure on him to cooperate with the investigation if the prosecutors unearth evidence of wrongdoing on his part. He has served as the Trump Organization’s financial gatekeeper for more than two decades and could be a vital source of information for the government about the inner workings of the company.

“In recent weeks, the prosecutors working for the Manhattan district attorney, Cyrus R. Vance Jr., have been interviewing witnesses who know Mr. Weisselberg and have asked at least one witness about Mr. Weisselberg’s sons, Barry and Jack Weisselberg, according to two of the people with knowledge of the matter.”

The idea of placing Weisselberg under the microscope in an effort to convince him to flip on his boss makes perfect sense, according to the former president’s niece, Mary:

Additionally, former federal prosecutor Harry Litman noted that Weisselberg is a key to Vance’s investigation because he “knows where all the bodies are buried.”

Would Weisselberg be willing to sing like a proverbial canary? According to Elie Honig, a former prosecutor for the Southern District of New York, we already know that the Trump Org. CFO is indeed willing to cooperate to make sure he isn’t charged with the Donald’s crimes:

And then there’s this from Andrew Weissmann, who was one of special counsel Robert Mueller’s top deputies in the Russia investigation:

The sudden turn to Weisselberg comes just a week after Vance’s office finally obtained eight years of Trump’s tax returns, along with “millions of pages” of his financial records. Those documents are suspected of containing evidence that Trump and his company committed fraud on an unprecedented scale.

For his part, the former president whined in response to the Manhattan D.A. getting his tax returns:

“For more than two years, New York City has been looking at almost every transaction I’ve ever done, including seeking tax returns which were done by among the biggest and most prestigious law and accounting firms in the U.S.”

However, if Trump has done business by the books and committed no crimes, why did it take the Supreme Court to wrest control of his tax returns away from the Trump Organization? An innocent man would never fight so doggedly to keep such information private. Only a crook with something to hide would go to such lengths.