Tag: The Trump Organization

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Business Donald Trump The Trump Organization

Guilty Plea By Trump Org. CFO Means ‘It’s All Over’ For Donald’s Company: Former Prosecutor

Allen Weisselberg, the former chief financial officer of the Trump Organization is on the verge of reaching an agreement with prosecutors in which he will plead guilty to multiple felony charges, including tax fraud.

The Washington Post notes, however, that Weisselberg will not agree to testify against Trump:

The specific terms of any plea agreement were not immediately clear. One of the people with knowledge of the matter, who spoke Monday on the condition of anonymity, said they expected Weisselberg to be sentenced to about five months behind bars. The person also said Weisselberg is not expected to help with an ongoing inquiry into Trump, who is facing legal scrutiny from multiple directions.

Weisselberg was charged with more than a dozen felony counts when he was indicted last year, among them grand larceny and criminal tax fraud. Before the indictment, a person familiar with the investigation into Trump’s finances had said prosecutors hoped to convince Weisselberg to testify against the former president as part of a deal that would reduce his own legal jeopardy.

Despite no cooperation from Weisselberg when it comes to helping convict Trump, according to former federal prosecutor Andrew Weissmann, the upcoming guilty plea is the end of Donald Trump’s company.

During an appearance on MSNBC, Weissmann explained:

“The reason that is important for Donald Trump is the Trump Organization is scheduled for trial in October. Once Allen Weisselberg pleads guilty, it is over for the Trump Organization. The crimes he committed, get imputed to the Trump Organization. So, the leverage in terms of the financial consequences to Donald Trump doesn’t mean he’s gonna go to jail, but the consequences for the Trump Organization are huge.”

Weissmann added that everything is falling apart for the disgraced ex-president on the legal front:

“This is a big deal. So, I think that would be number one, focus on the financial consequences of the Allen Weisselberg deal. And then, down the road, I mean, Lawrence, you laid out a litany of criminal and national security trouble, in Florida, in D.C., in Georgia. And this is a day where you saw a movement on all fronts. And to me, the thing that I thought was probably the most telling was the grand jury subpoena to Eric Herschmann. There is a guy who can completely corroborate what we heard from Cassidy Hutchinson. I am sure he has information.”

Could Donald Trump soon be facing imprisonment and the implosion of his corporation? It certainly looks that way, and it couldn’t possibly happen to a more deserving person.

Categories
Business Donald Trump The Trump Organization

Now That Trump Has Pled The Fifth, New York AG Can Impose The ‘Corporate Death Penalty’ On His Company

Earlier today, disgraced, one-term former president Donald Trump raised his hand, swore to tell the truth, and then repeatedly exercised his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination, which was in complete accord with the United States Constitution.

According to the Washington Post:

Former president Donald Trump arrived at the office of the New York attorney general Wednesday morning to give sworn testimony in a long-running civil probe of his business dealings, specifically his representations to lenders and tax agencies about the value of his assets.

In a lengthy statement, Trump denied wrongdoing, accused the U.S. government of unfairly targeting him and said he would refuse to answer questions, citing his Fifth Amendment right not to incriminate himself.

However, while Trump didn’t have to testify, his refusal to do so in the civil case being pursued against him and Trump Organization by New York Attorney General Letitia James could mean that his company vanishes from the face earth if James decides to pursue what’s known as the “corporate death penalty” against his real estate and branding business.

Business Insider notes that James can now ask a court for a variety of penalties:

In the coming weeks or even days, the AG is expected to file a massive, long-threatened ‘enforcement action’ — essentially a multi-hundred-page lawsuit against the Trumps and his Manhattan-based business. Fines and back taxes, however, may be the least of what Trump’s facing. James has signaled she will also seek the dissolution of the business itself under New York’s so-called corporate death penalty — a law that allows the AG to seek to dissolve businesses that operate ‘in a persistently fraudulent or illegal manner.’

Tristan Snell, who was able to get Trump University shut down under New York’s corporate death penalty law, noted:

“This cuts right to the crown jewel of his real estate portfolio.

“It’s everything, because at issue is Trump Tower [where the Trump Organization is headquartered in Manhattan], at issue is 40 Wall Street, which is one of his most beloved properties and probably one of the more valuable ones. All of his golf courses are also at stake, so it’s a big deal.”

Snell explained further on Twitter:

In other words, this has been the week from hell for Donald Trump. His residence was searched by the FBI, he’s on the verge of seeing his company liquidated, and he facing the prospect of being not only broke, but on his way to federal prison.

Lock him up!

 

Categories
Crime Donald Trump

Former Federal Prosecutor: Trump Has Reached ‘The End Of His Rope’ And Is Going Down

When the history books are written decades from now, it may well be said that this was the week when everything that could possibly go wrong collapsed right on top of failed, twice-impeached former President Donald Trump.

Consider what has transpired over the past five days for Trump:

  • His accounting firm cut all ties to him and announced that financial statements provided to them by the Trump Organization contain “material discrepancies.”
  • A New York judge ruled that the ex-president, along with Donald Trump Jr. and Ivanka Trump, must sit for depositions within the next three weeks.
  • The National Archives and Records Administration confirmed that Trump did indeed take classified documents out of the White House and transport them to Mar-a-Lago. They then referred the matter to the Justice Department for further investigation and possible criminal charges.

In other words, Trump is facing financial collapse, civil and criminal indictment, and watching as both he and his three oldest children are put on trial for a plethora of felony charges.

What’s next? According to former federal prosecutor Glenn Kirschner, Trump has reached “the end of his rope” and there’s more bad yet to come.

Kirschner was a guest on MSNBC, where he was asked by Jonathan Capehart if he thought Trump would “face any consequences.”

Kirschner responded:

“How could he not, Jonathan? You just went through the trifecta of really crushing legal stories for Donald Trump. And it’s not that he’s just losing these cases, but what some of the judges are saying.”

Quoting from a judge’s ruling that Trump seems to be complicit in the January 6 Capitol attack, Kirschner then added:

“Those are the words of federal crimes. Things are getting really bad as the investigative circle is tightening around Donald Trump.”

Later in the discussion, Kirschner noted:

“Donald Trump may be reaching the end of his rope. I predict, once the first brave prosecutor who has the evidence to indict Donald Trump brings that indictment, everybody is going to want to be the second prosecutor to indict Donald Trump.”

Who will be the first prosecutor to indict Donald Trump? That remains to be seen, but as Kirschner predicts, it’s likely to have a domino effect that will leave the former president trying to defend himself on multiple fronts as his finances are being squeezed.

It couldn’t happen to a more deserving asshole.

Categories
Crime Donald Trump The Trump Organization

NY AG Considering ‘Nuclear Option’ Of Dissolving Trump’s Company And Seizing Its Assets

Now that a New York judge has ordered failed, one-term former President Donald Trump and two of his children — Don Jr. and Ivanka — to sit for depositions within the next 21 days, the Trump family and Trump Organization are facing the greatest threat since Donald entered the real estate business in 1971.

In addition to facing both civil and criminal liability for allegedly inflating the value of properties to get larger bank loans and then undervaluing them when it came time to pay taxes, Trump is also looking at the total dissolution of his corporation and seizure of its assets by New York Attorney General Letitia James.

Former U.S. Attorney Barbara McQuade explained exactly how the law works in New York during an appearance on MSNBC’s “Deadline: White House.”

“You may remember that Corey Lewandowski, who was a former Trump campaign manager, famously said words to the effect of, ‘It’s not a crime to lie to the media.’ And that’s true, and I think Donald Trump has gotten away with that adage for a long time, but it is a crime to lie under oath at a deposition. And I think one of the reasons he has fought so hard to avoid this deposition is this is where truth matters, and so he can’t lie his way out of it, he can’t exaggerate out of it.”

If Trump and his children (all of whom are officers of Trump Org.) plead the Fifth Amendment and refuse to answer questions, McQuade continued, that opens them up to an even greater risk:

“So when he sits in that deposition chair as he has been ordered to do and as I’m sure will be affirmed on appeal, Donald Trump will face that comeuppance, where he has to tell the truth or assert a privilege like the Fifth Amendment privilege against self-incrimination, which he has said is something that is invoked only by mobsters and criminals, so he finds himself in a very difficult spot, because if he lies now, it does matter.”

The penalties might just be massive fines imposed by New York, McQuade explained:

“So the consequences there could be money damages — for example, if there are back taxes that are owed, if there were victims here, lenders who would not otherwise have made these loans who lost money in the deal — they’d have to pay damages.”

But there’s also another tool AG James has at her disposal: The nuclear option:

“But the nuclear option here is that Attorney General James actually has the power to dissolve corporations that are involved in widespread fraud. It’s what happened with the Trump Foundation, so it could even happen here with the Trump Organization. The other thing that could happen is this information could be used in the criminal case. We see the Manhattan DA investigating some of the very same acts under a criminal lens … which could also bring with it in addition to monetary penalties, potential prison time.”

Broke and in prison. That’s exactly where Donald Trump and his felonious spawn belong. Lock them up!

Here’s the video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vCRvpXPo33k&feature=emb_logo
 

Categories
Crime Eric Trump The Trump Organization

WATCH Eric Trump Almost Burst Into Tears During An Interview With Sean Hannity

Things are falling apart for the Trump family, and the stress of multiple investigations — paired with news that the Trump Organization’s longtime accounting firm has dumped the company and declared Trump Org’s financial filings are a lie — led Eric Trump go to on Sean Hannity’s show Monday evening and whine about how bad things are.

At a couple of points during the discussion, Eric even looked like he might start weeping at any moment.

Rather than defend his father and the Trump Organization, Eric Trump used deflection, suggesting that Hillary Clinton needs to be under investigation:

“Where are the prosecutors right now? You know, the same prosecutors, they’ll go after my father every single day for nothing, right? Just because they want to disqualify him because he’s clearly the front runner for 2024.

“Where are those prosecutors? Hillary Rodham Clinton is a New York resident. Let me just kind of break that down for you. She lives in Chappaqua, New York and guess where Trump Tower is located is located? It’s located on Fifth Avenue in New York. Where are these prosecutors? Where is the DA? Isn’t that a federal – Isn’t that a, you know, isn’t that fraud? Isn’t that all sorts of offenses?”

Seconds later, the ex-president’s son asked Hannity:

“Where’s Letitia James in this whole thing? Is she just gonna ignore this because Hillary happens to be in her political party?”

The “whole thing” Eric is referring to is a court filing by Special Counsel John Durham which right-wing media is attempting to prove is a smoking gun that proves Hillary was spying on Trump. Problem is, there’s nothing in that filing that suggests such a thing, as Dean Obeidallah noted on Twitter:

Attorney Marcy Wheeler also explained what a giant nothing burger the Durham filing is during an appearance on MSNBC Tuesday morning:

“One of the things [Durham] revealed in that, which I have heard from other people is this claim that Rodney Joffe was accessing data from the White House. All of that data precedes Trump’s inauguration, so you have Trump out there calling for these people to be put to death when really what happened is Rodney Joffe was trying to keep [then-president] Barack Obama safe from hackers. That’s all it is. That’s why Trump wants these people killed, Durham knows that.”

Poor Eric. He can sense that the walls are closing in on him, his father and two of his siblings, Don Jr. and Ivanka. So he’s lashing out and getting all weepy. He’d do better to keep his mouth shut and let his attorneys handle the matter. Instead, he’s giving prosecutors even more ammunition they can use against him and his family.