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☆ Trump probe follows criticism of Manhattan prosecutor for not acting sooner
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-10 | by ( Luc Cohen | Thomson Reuters | Reports On The New York Federal Courts. Previously Worked As A Correspondent In Venezuela | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg has come under political pressure for not bringing charges against Trump earlier, but has now invited Trump to testify before a grand jury, according to Susan Necheles, a lawyer for Trump. The probe comes at a critical time, as Trump is running for the Republican presidential nomination in 2024. A prosecutor leading that probe, Mark Pomerantz, resigned in February 2022 after Bragg declined to charge Trump himself for financial crimes. A spokeswoman for Bragg, who could still decline to charge Trump, referred to Bragg's earlier statement. In the biggest trial victory so far in his tenure, his office last December won the conviction of the Trump Organization on tax fraud charges.

☆ Michael Cohen predicts 'liar' Trump won't testify as Manhattan hush-money indictment looms
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-10 | by ( El Calabrese | Laura Italiano | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Cohen took a shot at 'liar' Trump before meeting Friday with Manhattan 'hush-money' prosecutors. "It's another thing to turn around and lie before a grand jury," Cohen said. "Donald Trump, as a private citizen, right before the election, directed Michael Cohen to pay hush money that Michael Cohen went to prison for," Davis said. "Now there's no dispute that it was Donald Trump's Justice Department that wrote that in a sentencing memo and in their information filed against Michael Cohen," Davis said. "So if he directed Michael Cohen to do a crime, according to his Justice Department — go look it up it's a public document — then how is it possible that he's not guilty, if he directed Michael Cohen to pay the hush money."

☆ Trump Invited to Appear Before New York Grand Jury in Stormy Daniels Hush-Money Probe
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-09 | by ( Corinne Ramey | Alex Leary | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

The office of Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg has invited Donald Trump to appear next week in front of a grand jury that is weighing evidence about the former president’s alleged role in paying hush money to a porn star on the eve of the 2016 election, according to people familiar with the matter. The move is the latest indication that Mr. Bragg, a Democrat, is nearing a decision on whether to bring a criminal case against Mr. Trump. Potential defendants in New York state have the right to appear in front of grand jurors, though they rarely choose to do so. People close to Mr. Trump say he is unlikely to accept the invitation.

The former president was told he could appear before a Manhattan grand jury next week if he wished to testify, the newspaper said. A lawyer for Trump confirmed to Reuters that Trump had been invited to testify. While being given the opportunity to testify indicates that Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg could charge the president, the prosecutor could still decline to indict Trump. "If he (Trump) does appear, he will have to waive immunity and answer the prosecutor's questions," he said. "I did absolutely nothing wrong, I never had an affair with Stormy Daniels, nor would I have wanted to have an affair with Stormy Daniels.

☆ Kellyanne Conway meets again with Manhattan district attorney as Trump hush-money probe barrels toward possible indictment
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-08 | by ( Laura Italiano | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Ex-Trump advisor Kellyanne Conway was back for a 2nd meeting with Manhattan prosecutors Wednesday. She directly links Trump to a 2016 hush-money payment to Stormy Daniels, Michael Cohen has alleged. A Manhattan grand jury is hearing evidence relating to the illegal, election-eve payment. Conway "said she'd pass along the good news" to Trump, Cohen wrote. Getting little to no traction," Cohen texted Hicks as the hush-money payment to Daniels was being negotiated, federal filings say.

☆ Hope Hicks, Kellyanne Conway, key to Trump's 2016 win, could harm his 2024 run by directly linking him to hush money
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-07 | by ( Laura Italiano | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Kellyanne Conway and Hope Hicks have met with prosecutors probing a 2016 Trump hush money payment. Both could directly link Trump to the payment, federal prosecutors have said in the past. Hicks, Trump's 2016 campaign press secretary and later his White House communications director, was seen Monday afternoon arriving at a lower Manhattan office building used in the DA's investigation, the Associated Press reported. Conway, Trump's campaign manager turned senior advisor, likewise met with the DA on Wednesday, the New York Times reported. But both Hicks and Conway were implicated in documents from the time as being aware of the payments to Daniels.

☆ Analysis: US Republicans aim to stymie gun sale codes at state level
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-03 | by ( Ross Kerber | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

"I don't want card companies to raise interest rates or fees on merchants as a way to dissuade them" from selling guns and ammunition, Owen told Reuters. Visa Inc (V.N) declined to comment on the state bills. Other payment card companies Discover, Mastercard Inc and (MA.N) American Express Co (AXP.N) did not respond to requests for comment. Owen, the Mississippi state legislator, said he expects that payment companies could address any technical issues the bills could create. "I think the credit card companies are going to have to adapt on a state-by-state basis," Owen said.

☆ Michael Cohen and the Manhattan DA's Trump probe: It's complicated.
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-25 | by ( Laura Italiano | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +11 min

There are no security guards or obscuring metal gates when Cohen arrives for his weekly Trump probe sit-downs — just a dozen or so news cameras. "No," Cohen told The Daily Beast last April. By Bragg's sixth week on the job, the new DA, who'd never even met Cohen, told Pomerantz he "could not see a world" in which Cohen could be called as a DA witness. "Alvin Bragg is operating at Alvin Bragg's pace," Cohen told MSNBC on another appearance, after that 16th meeting. "The district attorney, and the team, I find them to be incredibly, incredibly competent and decent people," Cohen told Insider.

☆ The Manhattan DA was skeptical about using Michael Cohen to testify against Trump. He's now helping the office investigate the ex-president's hush-money scandal.
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-03 | by ( Jacob Shamsian | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg was reportedly skeptical about using Michael Cohen in a criminal case against Trump. Cohen — a former vice president of the Trump Organization and personal lawyer for the ex-president — has his own criminal history. Pomerantz was hired by Bragg's predecessor Cyrus Vance Jr. A legendary defense attorney and former prosecutor, he returned to law enforcement solely for the Trump investigation. Weisselberg pleaded guilty to the fraud charges, and the Trump Organization was convicted at trial late last year. Weisselberg is under pressure to cooperate in the DA's Trump investigation or he could face more charges, the Times reported this week.

Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg established a grand jury for another Trump investigation. The special grand jury is hearing evidence over whether Trump broke laws with his 2016 hush-money payment. The case is being heard by a special grand jury, according to the Times, which sits for six months rather than the standard single month. Bragg's predecessor, Cyrus Vance Jr., allowed members of his team to bring evidence to a grand jury over potential tax and bank fraud charges. According to the Times, to bring felony charges against Trump, prosecutors would need to prove he falsified records for the payment to conceal a second crime.

☆ Trump questions whether not paying taxes is 'even a crime' as he laments his former CFO Weisselberg's jailing
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-21 | by ( Alia Shoaib | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Donald Trump questioned whether his former CFO not paying taxes was "even a crime." Allen Weisselberg, 75, has been sentenced to five months for his role in a Trump Organization tax dodge scheme. Weisselberg, 75, was earlier this month sentenced to five months for his role in masterminding a Trump Organization tax dodge scheme. Weisselberg was sentenced days before the Trump Organization was hit with a $1.6 million fine during the company's sentencing for its December conviction on payroll-tax fraud. The former CFO remained loyal to his former employer throughout the trial, continuing to insist that Trump himself did nothing wrong.

☆ New York man pleads guilty to hate crime charges in head-stomping death of Chinese immigrant
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-13 | by ( Chantal Da Silva | Chantal Da Silva Is A Breaking News Editor For Nbc News Digital Based In London. | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +2 min

A New York man pleaded guilty Thursday to manslaughter as a hate crime for the brutal beating of Yao Pan Ma, a Chinese immigrant who died months after he was attacked while out collecting cans to earn money. The attack, which initially left Ma critically injured, unfolded on April 23, 2021, when he was in East Harlem collecting cans to help pay rent. Yao Pan Ma is shown hospitalized after he was attacked while collecting cans in New York, on April 23, 2021. Powell was arrested days after the attack and faced multiple felony charges of attempted murder and hate crimes. That's when they began collecting cans and bottles to return for refunds so they could pay for rent.

Trump Corp. and Trump Payroll Corp. — both subsidiaries of the Trump Organization — were convicted last month on 17 counts, including conspiracy, criminal tax fraud and falsifying business records. “This case was all about Allen Weisselberg committing tax fraud on his personal tax returns. Every witness repeatedly testified that President Trump and the Trump family knew nothing about Allen Weisselberg’s actions,” Trump attorney Susan Necheles maintained after the verdict. The $1.6 million in penalties the district attorney sought is the maximum allowed under applicable statutes in the case. Trump has complained that the actions of the district attorney and the attorney general are part of the "witch hunt" against him.

[1/2] Former U.S. President Donald Trump speaks during a rally in Commerce, Georgia, U.S. March 26, 2022. Trump's company faces only a maximum $1.6 million penalty, but has said it plans to appeal. Bragg and James are Democrats, as is Bragg's predecessor Cyrus Vance, who brought the criminal case. "The whole narrative that Donald Trump was blissfully ignorant is just not real," Assistant District Attorney Joshua Steinglass told jurors in his closing argument. State law limits the penalties that Justice Merchan can impose on Trump's company.

☆ Trump Org sentenced to pay a $1.6 million tax-fraud fine Friday, but the fraud still yields a profit for Trump
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-13 | by ( Laura Italiano | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Trump Org must pay $1.6 million, the maximum fine allowed by law, a Manhattan judge ordered Friday. The fine is Trump Org's penalty for a decade-long tax-fraud scheme it was convicted of last month. The fine is the maximum allowed under New York State law, and came with harsh words from a Manhattan prosecutor. Trump saved millions in payroll costs over the course of the decade-long scheme, Manhattan prosecutors have repeatedly argued. He added that the Trump Organiztion and Weisselberg sentencings "closes this important chapter of our ongoing investigation into the president's businesss."

☆ Longtime Trump CFO Weisselberg gets 5 months in jail in tax fraud case
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-10 | by ( Karen Freifeld | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

[1/5] Allen Howard Weisselberg, the former Trump Organization CFO, appears for sentencing for tax fraud scheme in New York State Supreme Court in the Manhattan borough of New York City, U.S., January 10, 2023. Weisselberg, 75, is expected to be sent to New York's notorious Rikers Island jail. Though no longer CFO, Weisselberg remains on paid leave from the Trump Organization. The jail time will probably not be easy for Weisselberg, at a facility known for violence, drugs and corruption. Weisselberg testified that Trump signed bonus and tuition checks, and other documents at the heart of prosecutors' case, but was not in on the tax fraud scheme.

☆ Factbox: Jan. 6 report adds to Trump's mounting legal problems
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-23 | by ( Industry Insight | Saw Law Firms Move Past The Pandemic Into A More Client-Focused Service Environment | Thomson Reuters Institute | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +8 min

A New York judge ordered that an independent monitor be appointed to oversee the Trump Organization before the case goes to trial in October 2023. Trump asked Raffensperger to "find" enough votes needed to overturn Trump's election loss in Georgia. Legal experts said Trump may have violated at least three Georgia criminal election laws: conspiracy to commit election fraud, criminal solicitation to commit election fraud and intentional interference with performance of election duties. A Trump Organization lawyer has said it would appeal the decision, while Trump has defended his company's operations. Allen Weisselberg, the company's former chief financial officer, pleaded guilty and was required to testify against the Trump Organization as part of his plea agreement.

☆ Allen Weisselberg could get more time since the Trump Org guilty verdict required jurors to find he lied
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-17 | by ( Laura Italiano | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +10 min

A judge could rule Weisselberg violated the deal because jurors, by their verdict, found he lied. He has been promised a five-month jail sentence as part of his August plea deal. But that deal required Weisselberg, 75, to testify truthfully against former President Donald Trump's real-estate company, where he's worked since the 1970s. "Weisselberg says over and over, 'I, together with the Trump Organization,'" Florence, now in private practice, noted of his guilty plea. Trump Organization lawyers have already promised to appeal the verdict itself.

From now on, the criminal convictions will place an indelible asterisk next to the Trump business name. With serious criminal investigations underway against Trump in Washington, Atlanta and New York, the convictions remind us of the sharpest arrow in a prosecutor’s quiver: flipping the target’s lieutenants. Loyal to the end, Weisselberg never fingered Trump personally at trial and even cooperated with defense lawyers by forswearing Trump’s involvement in the fraud. Before joining the top tier at DOJ, Colangelo led New York Attorney General Letitia James’ inquiry into Trump. By thrusting himself into the national spotlight, there is no way that his misconduct wouldn’t catch stellar prosecutors’ careful attention.

☆ After Trump Org tax-fraud conviction, will Trump only get a slap on the wrist or could he face new NY charges?
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-07 | by ( Laura Italiano | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

NY law limits the penalties Trump faces to $250K per tax count and $10K per crime. But the conviction could embolden the Manhattan DA's office to pursue more cases against the former president and his company, insiders say. The tax-fraud case against the Trump Organization has been that probe's only indictment to date. That victory — and the apparent willingness of Manhattan residents to hit hard — may embolden the DA's office to go after Trump himself. "He has 500 subsidiaries" he said of the Trump Organization.

[1/6] Former U.S. President Donald Trump attends a rally to support Republican candidates ahead of midterm elections, in Dayton, Ohio, U.S. November 7, 2022. Alan Futerfas, a lawyer for the Trump Organization, told reporters the company would appeal. SEPARATE LAWSUITThe Trump Organization separately faces a fraud lawsuit brought by New York state Attorney General Letitia James. The Trump Organization argued that Weisselberg carried out the scheme to benefit himself. "The whole narrative that Donald Trump was blissfully ignorant is just not real," Steinglass said.

☆ Trump Organization found guilty on all counts in Manhattan tax-fraud trial
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-06 | by ( Laura Italiano | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

The verdict means Trump's company now risks up to $1.6 million in penalties when it is sentenced on January 13. The company also now has felony status, meaning a big black eye as Trump makes his third run for president. Defense lawyers promised to appeal the verdict; Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg thanked the jury and the prosecution team. The jury found that both subsidiaries — the Trump Corporation and Trump Payroll Corporation, both doing business as Trump Organization — were complicit in a decade-long tax-dodge scheme admittedly run by ex-CFO Allen Weisselberg and top payroll executive Jeffrey McConney. In Manhattan, no corporation is above the law," said Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg in a statement.

☆ Trump Organization convicted in New York criminal tax fraud case
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-06 | by ( Dan Mangan | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Two subsidiaries of the Trump Organization were convicted Tuesday by a jury in New York City of multiple crimes, including tax fraud, falsifying business records and conspiracy. The guilty verdicts on all 17 charged counts come three weeks after the company's owner, Republican former President Donald Trump, declared his candidacy for the White House in the 2024 election. But Trump "knew exactly what was going on," a prosecutor said in closing arguments last week in Manhattan Supreme Court. Defense lawyers had argued that Weisselberg — who earlier pleaded guilty to 15 felony charges — was solely responsible for the scheme, not the Trump Organization. The guilty verdicts also could harm the firm's ability to obtain loans for its various real estate holdings and other business ventures,

☆ Manhattan DA's office hires attorney with extensive experience investigating Trump, suing his administration
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-05 | by ( Jacob Shamsian | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

The Manhattan DA's office has hired Matthew Colangelo as it heats up investigations into Trump. Colangelo oversaw lawsuits against the Trump administration while he worked at the NY AG's office. He also spearheaded the lawsuit that led to the dissolution of the Trump Foundation. Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg overlapped with Colangelo at the New York attorney general's office during the Trump years. At the time, Bragg had taken over the office from Cyrus Vance Jr., the district attorney who initiated the investigation.

"The whole narrative that Donald Trump was blissfully ignorant is just not real," Steinglass told the 12-person jury in a New York state court. Company lawyers objected when Steinglass showed jurors a Trump-initialed memo said it showed the former president "explicitly sanctioning tax fraud." If convicted on tax fraud, falsifying business records and other charges, Trump's company faces up to $1.6 million in fines. Steinglass said Trump approved luxury apartments for Weisselberg and his son, and for chief operating officer Matthew Calamari and his son. "Free cars for you, free cars for your wife, free apartments for you, free apartments for your kids."

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