White Donald Trump won't be charged (most likely ever, as it will ignite political violence around the country and we're nowhere near being ready for that cost and the aftermath as a society) his businesses will be this week as the Trump Organization and CFO Allen Weisselberg face tax fraud charges from Manhattan DA Cy Vance's three-year investigation.
The Manhattan district attorney’s office is expected to charge the Trump Organization and its chief financial officer with tax-related crimes on Thursday, people familiar with the matter said, which would mark the first criminal charges against the former president’s company since prosecutors began investigating it three years ago.
The charges against the Trump Organization and Allen Weisselberg, the company’s longtime chief financial officer, are a blow to former President Donald Trump, who has fended off multiple criminal and civil probes during and after his presidency. Mr. Trump himself isn’t expected to be charged, his lawyer said. Mr. Weisselberg has rejected prosecutors’ attempts at gaining his cooperation, according to people familiar with the matter.
The defendants are expected to appear in court on Thursday afternoon, the people said.
The Trump Organization and Mr. Weisselberg are expected to face charges related to allegedly evading taxes on fringe benefits, the people said. For months, the Manhattan district attorney’s office and New York state attorney general’s office have been investigating whether Mr. Weisselberg and other employees illegally avoided paying taxes on perks—such as cars, apartments and private-school tuition—that they received from the Trump Organization.
If prosecutors could show the Trump Organization and its executives systematically avoided paying taxes, they could file more serious charges alleging a scheme, lawyers said.
Mr. Weisselberg and his lawyers haven’t commented on the investigation or impending charges.
Mr. Trump has denied wrongdoing and said the investigations, conducted by offices led by Democrats, are politically motivated. Earlier this week, he said in a statement that the case is composed of “things that are standard practice throughout the U.S. business community, and in no way a crime.”
In recent virtual meetings, lawyers for Mr. Trump and his company tried to persuade prosecutors not to charge the Trump Organization, arguing that charging a company over fringe benefits or employee compensation was unheard of, The Wall Street Journal and others reported this week. Former prosecutors say it is rare to charge an individual or company for failure to pay taxes on employee benefits alone, although such charges are used as part of larger cases.
Again, I'm just some guy on the internet here who has been grouchy for a dozen years online, but even I have to say this looks like Vance is trying to get Weisselberg to flip and turn states' evidence against Trump and/or his kids.
We'll see what happens, but the outrage meter on the right is maybe even going to exceed that of Trump's impeachment, where they knew with 100% certainty that nothing actually consequential was ever going to happen to Trump from any attempt to impeach. This...this is something they cannot fully control.
It only gets bad from this point on, folks.
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