New York investigations of The Trump Organization

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Trump Tower, headquarters of the Trump Organization, Manhattan

Two related investigations by New York State and City officials are currently being carried out to determine whether The Trump Organization has committed financial fraud. One of these is a criminal case being conducted by the Manhattan district attorney (DA) and the other is a civil case being conducted by the New York Attorney General (AG). By mid-2021, the New York AG had joined the Manhattan DA's criminal probe, with the latter convening a grand jury. Prosecutors filed 10 charges against the organization, alleging that it had conducted a "15 year 'scheme to defraud' the government", and 15 felony counts against longtime chief financial officer Allen Weisselberg. A second grand jury was convened in October 2021. In February 2022, the organization and Weisselberg filed motions asking that the criminal case be dismissed, alleging that it was based on political bias. A trial is tentatively scheduled for August or September.

In November 2021, The Washington Post reported that between 2011 and 2015, the organization presented several properties as being worth far more to potential lenders than to tax officials; in 2012, it cited the 40 Wall Street building as being worth over $500 million more to the former than to the latter. As of January 2022, the organization remains under investigation in both criminal and civil capacities. In response to New York AG Letitia James's subpoenas of Donald Trump and his two oldest children in the civil matter, Trump's legal team sued the AG, filed a motion seeking a stay of proceedings against her, and asked for the subpoenas to be "quashed", alleging political bias. On February 17, 2022, a New York judge ruled in favor of James's subpoenas. Donald Trump is required to provide requested documents by March 31, but an appeal may delay the depositions.

Background[]

Donald Trump in 2015

The financial statements of the Trump Organization's holdings are private, as are Donald Trump's personal tax returns, and there exist a wide range of estimates of the organization's true value. Donald Trump has been accused on several occasions of deliberately inflating the valuation of Trump Organization properties through the aggressive lobbying of the media, in particular the authors of the annual Forbes 400 list, in order to bolster his perceived net worth among the public over several decades.[1] He has released little definitive financial documentation to the public confirm his valuation claims.[2][3][4][5] It is difficult to determine a net value for the Trump Organization's real-estate holdings independently since each individual property may be encumbered by debt.[1] In October 2015, Forbes published an article detailing its decades-long struggle to estimate the true net worth of Trump and the Trump Organization.[6] In 2018, a former Forbes journalist who had worked on the Forbes list claimed in an op-ed to The Washington Post that Trump had lied about his wealth to Forbes to get on the list repeatedly and suggested that Forbes's previous low-end estimates of Trump's net worth were still well above his true net worth.[1]

Between 2011 and 2015, the Trump Organization presented several properties as being worth millions of dollars—in one case over $500 million—more to potential lenders than to tax officials.[7] This was reported by The Washington Post in November 2021.[7]

In October 2018, The New York Times published a lengthy exposé concerning Donald Trump's inheritance from his parents, Fred and Mary Anne MacLeod Trump. It includes detailed analyses of Trump family financial records.[a] The article describes an alleged tax fraud scheme conducted by Trump and his siblings related to their joint inheritance of their parents's real estate holdings, effectively evading over $500 million in gift and estate taxes. The alleged schemes involved siphoning money from the companies to the children throughout their lives and understating the value of transferred properties.[8][b] The New York State Department of Taxation and Finance announced on the day of the exposé's publication that it would review the allegations.[12][13] In mid-2021, Mary L. Trump (a primary source for the exposé) elaborated on how the organization used a shell corporation to siphon money, devaluing Fred Trump's "core business" to $30 million at the time of his death.[14]

In August 2018, Manhattan District Attorney (DA) Cyrus Vance Jr. was reported to be considering a criminal investigation of the organization and two of its senior executives for their reimbursement of then-Trump personal attorney Michael Cohen for his hush money payment to Stormy Daniels; the organization recorded the reimbursement as a legal expense although Cohen did no legal work in the matter.[15] In August 2019, Vance subpoenaed the organization's accountants, Mazars, for Trump's tax returns.[16] In July 2020, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that Trump's tax records could be released to prosecutors,[17] producing millions of pages of documents, reportedly including Trump's tax returns from January 2011 to August 2019.[18]

Michael Cohen testified to Congress in February 2019 that Trump "inflated [the organization's] total assets when it served his purposes, such as trying to be listed amongst the wealthiest people in Forbes, and deflated his assets to reduce his real estate taxes."[19] Following Cohen's testimony, in March, the New York State Department of Financial Services issued a subpoena to Aon, the organization's longtime insurance broker.[20] The same month, the office of New York Attorney General (AG) Letitia James began investigating the organization,[21] having stated that she intended to do so during her 2018 campaign.[22] By September 2019, the organization was under federal investigation by the Southern District of New York regarding inflated insurance claims allegations.[23] By December, James's office had subpoenaed the organization for some records which it subsequently failed to provide for at least 21 months.[24]

Criminal case[]

The Manhattan DA suggested in an August 2020 federal court filing that the organization was under investigation for bank and insurance fraud.[25] That November, The New York Times reported that both investigators had recently issued subpoenas to the organization regarding tax deductions on millions of dollars in consulting fees, some of which were apparently paid to Ivanka Trump.[26] By December 2020, the Manhattan DA had interviewed employees of Aon and Deutsche Bank, and hired FTI Consulting to provide forensic analysis to determine whether the organization had altered asset values for financial gain.[27]

First grand jury and charges[]

On May 18, 2021, the New York AG's office announced that it was joining the Manhattan DA's office in probing the organization "in a criminal capacity."[28] The Manhattan DA convened a special grand jury to consider indicting Trump, his company and/or executives, and to investigate other matters.[29][30] Jeffrey McConney, a senior vice president and controller who had worked for almost 35 years at the company, testified before the grand jury after he was subpoenaed.[31][32]

People v. Trump Corporation
Seal of New York (state).svg
CourtSupreme Court of the State of New York County of New York
Full case nameThe People of the State of New York v. The Trump Organization, d/b/a The Trump Organization, Trump Payroll Corp., d/b/a The Trump Organization, Allen Weisselberg
DefendantTrump Organization, Trump Payroll Organization, and Allen Weisselberg

By June 2021, longtime chief financial officer Allen Weisselberg and chief operating officer Michael Calamari were under scrutiny of the Manhattan DA investigation.[33][34] On June 25, the ex-wife of Allen Weisselberg's son Barry (who worked for the organization), Jennifer Weisselberg, reportedly told investigators that in January 2012 she witnessed Donald Trump discuss fringe benefits with her then-husband and father-in-law. Trump allegedly indicated that he would provide tuition for Barry and Jennifer's children at a top-rated private school (ultimately costing over $50,000 a year per child) instead of giving the two employees a raise, and directly told Jennifer that he would cover this cost.[35][36] On June 28, she stated that she was planning to provide testimony in the case.[37]

On July 1, New York prosecutors charged the Trump Organization with a "15 year 'scheme to defraud' the government", conspiracy, and falsifying business records. Prosecutors filed 10 charges against the organization and its Trump Payroll Corporation entity, and 15 felony counts against Weisselberg, including grand larceny and offering a false instrument for filing.[38][39][40] Prosecutors allege that Weisselberg received about $1.76 million in undeclared indirect compensation in the form of free rent and utilities, car leases for himself and his wife, and school tuition for his grandchildren (the checks for which Trump allegedly signed).[41][42][43] They further allege that the organization kept track of the fringe benefits on internal spreadsheets and did not report them as taxable income.[42] Both the organization and Weisselberg pleaded not guilty.[36] On July 8, the Trump Organization removed Weisselberg as director of the company running Trump International Golf Links, Scotland; on July 9, the company removed him as director of 40 subsidiaries registered in Florida.[44]

The organization and Weisselberg next appeared in court on September 20.[45] Weisselberg's lawyer revealed that over 3 million documents had been discovered in the basement of an unidentified co-conspirator, including tax documents related to the organization, and announced that "We have strong reason to believe there could be other indictments coming." Weisselberg's defense team asked for more time to review the documents.[46] The judge agreed to this request and tentatively set a trial date for about a year in the future.[45] Prosecutors reportedly hoped that Weisselberg would provide testimony against Donald Trump in exchange for a reduced or rescinded sentence.[46] The New York AG later reported that, like Eric Trump in his testimony for the AG, Weisselberg had invoked his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination over 500 times.[47]

On August 31, Michael Calamari's son, who heads security for the organization, was subpoenaed to testify before the grand jury; both he and Jeffrey McConney were expected to testify on September 2.[48][49] Prosecutors reportedly negotiated with a lawyer for Calamari to discuss his cooperation.[34] As of November 2021, Calamari's lawyer expected no charges to be brought against his client.[50] The original grand jury was expected to remain convened until November.[51]

Second grand jury[]

The Manhattan DA convened a second grand jury the last week of October 2021; it began to hear evidence on November 4, reportedly to consider charges related to the company's valuation of assets.[51] By November 22, prosecutors were scrutinizing several of the organization's properties for which, between 2011 and 2015, far higher values were presented to potential lenders than were reported to tax officials. In the most extreme case, in 2012, the 40 Wall Street building was cited as being worth $527 million to the former, but only $16.7 million to the latter.[7] Michael Cohen subsequently stated that prosecutors could "indict Donald Trump tomorrow if they really wanted, and be successful".[52] By mid-December, an accountant for Trump had testified before the grand jury.[53] Prosecutors were reportedly examining whether the organization provided its outside accountants, Mazars USA, with cherry-picked information with which to prepare favorable financial statements to present to prospective lenders. Mazars provided disclaimers with its financial statements for the organization, indicating that the firm had not audited, reviewed, or given any assurances about them, and noting that "Donald J. Trump is responsible for the preparation and fair presentation of the financial statement in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America."[54] On February 9, Mazars informed the organization that it would no longer support the financial statements it had prepared for the organization from mid-2010 to mid-2020.[55]

On February 22, lawyers for the organization and Weisselberg filed motions requesting that the Manhattan DA's criminal investigation be dismissed, alleging "political animus". Weisselberg's lawyers argued that the charges against him were related to federal taxes and that he had been granted federal immunity due to his cooperation in the case against Cohen (who allegedly recommended prosecutors try to flip Weisselberg against Trump);[56][57] his lawyers further claimed that prosecutors had threatened to charge Weisselberg's son Barry[58] (a former Trump Organization employee who was allegedly provided unreported fringe benefits)[37][35] and requested that evidence from two prosecutors be suppressed because it was improperly divulged while Weisselberg was in custody.[56] The same day, the DA told two of his lead prosecutors, Mark F. Pomerantz and Carey R. Dunne, that he was not ready to indict Trump based on the difficulty of proving that he had criminal intent.[59] The two prosecutors resigned the following day,[60] with Pomerantz writing in his resignation letter that there is "evidence sufficient to establish Mr. Trump's guilt beyond a reasonable doubt" regarding "numerous felony violations" and that Vance had directed his deputies to seek indictments "as soon as reasonably possible".[61]

The New York Times reported that the resignations followed a monthlong pause of evidence being presented to the jury, which is expected to remain seated until April,[62] as well as discussions about charging Trump with conspiracy and falsifying financial records (instead of a fraud charge).[59] The most recent evidence heard was reportedly from Trump's Mazars accountant and an expert in real-estate property valuation from FTI Consulting.[62] On February 24, Bragg recruited his investigations chief to the lead prosecutor role. The DA's office was expected to continue debating the strength of the case.[63][64] A trial is tentatively scheduled for August or September.[45][57]

Civil case[]

New York Attorney General Letitia James

In March 2019, the office of New York AG Letitia James began investigating the organization.[21] In August 2020, James disclosed in a court filing that it was conducting a civil investigation of the organization for the asset inflation allegation (which could lead to a lawsuit),[65][63] asking a court to compel the organization to provide information it had been withholding, including testimony from Eric Trump. The filing noted that Eric Trump had resisted a subpoena and abruptly canceled an interview scheduled for the previous month.[65] In September, New York judge Arthur Engoron ordered Eric Trump to sit for a deposition by October 7;[66][c] he was deposed on October 5 and reportedly invoked his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination over 500 times.[68][47]

On September 2, 2021, Judge Engoron ordered the organization to submit a report explaining what it was doing to comply with subpoenas from the AG's office, one of which dated back to December 2019. If this request was not met by October 15, an electronic discovery firm was to be commissioned to review the company's records.[24] On December 1, James subpoenaed Trump in the civil case, with the intent of deposing him on January 7, 2022.[69][70] Ivanka and Donald Trump Jr. were issued subpoenas in the matter on the same day.[70][71] On December 20, Trump's lawyer Alina Habba filed a lawsuit against James, alleging that her case against the former president was "guided solely by political animus and a desire to harass, intimidate, and retaliate against a private citizen who she views as a political opponent" and that his civil rights were being violated.[72] The next month, James filed a motion requesting that Trump's suit be dismissed, arguing that he was only trying to block his deposition.[73]

On January 3, 2022, James and a lawyer for the organization filed a court document naming Ivanka and Donald Trump Jr. as respondents in the civil case.[71] Additionally, the filing noted that the two Trumps and their father had moved to block their subpoenas on the premise that the AG was attempting to sidestep due process to gather evidence against them in the related criminal case[70][71] (led by Alvin Bragg since January 1).[62] According to a legal expert cited by The New York Times, this is the responsibility of the defendants' lawyers to prove, but the Trumps can invoke their right against self-incrimination during their testimony. Refusal to testify could be cited in the civil case.[70] James argued that the Trumps were using a continued pattern of "delay tactics" to keep her from interviewing them under oath.[70][74] On January 10, Habba filed a motion seeking a stay of proceedings to allow an injunction against James on the same essential basis as Trump's lawsuit against the AG.[75][72] At a political rally on January 15, Trump showed a video compilation of James referring to him as an "illegitimate president" and calling attention to his finances; this ended with the text "unhinged liberal" placed over James' face.[76] At another rally two weeks later, Trump said of James and Fani Willis (both of whom are African Americans and scrutinizing the legality of actions by Trump): "If these radical, vicious, racist prosecutors do anything wrong or illegal, I hope we are going to have in this country the biggest protest we have ever had."[77][78] On January 31, James filed a motion arguing that her case "presents no emergency requiring the extraordinary relief of a preliminary injunction".[77][79] She also clarified that her remarks against Trump had been made while campaigning in the 2018 New York AG election, stating, "I pursue cases based on evidence ... the politics stop at my door."[77][80]

Donald Trump's oldest two children, Donald Jr. and Ivanka Trump, are respondents in the civil case.

On January 18, James filed a motion to compel Trump and his two oldest children to appear in court and provide documents, stating that "Thus far in our investigation, we have uncovered significant evidence that suggests Donald J. Trump and the Trump Organization falsely and fraudulently valued multiple assets and misrepresented those values to financial institutions for economic benefit."[21][81][82] Investigators stated that the "focus of the subpoena, and the investigation, is Mr. Trump's statement of financial condition," alleging that Trump's financial statements were used to secure more than $300 million in loans, and that these "were generally inflated as part of a pattern to suggest that Mr. Trump's net worth was higher than it otherwise would have appeared".[47] According to the AG's motion, over 930,000 documents had been provided by the organization in response to subpoenas and about a dozen employees and former employees had provided testimony.[47] However, of over five million documents provided by the company overall, only three were provided by Trump himself; two of these were cited in the AG's motion,[83] in addition to Trump's federal income tax information, which he approved the release of to the AG.[84] Trump's handwriting and signature are present on some of the hard-copy documents.[85]

The New York AG's filing cites financial inaccuracies including the organization's golf course near Aberdeen, Scotland, which the AG said was valued at $435.56 million by Trump in 2014, over twice its previous year estimate. This was apparently based on the potential building of 2,500 luxury homes, despite less than 1,500 of such units being approved by Scottish officials. Weisselberg had been unable to explain the discrepancy.[86] Additionally, James cited Trump's own three-story apartment in Trump Tower, which he reported as being 30,000 square feet; according to the New York AG it is actually about 11,000 square feet.[21] A 2017 Forbes article supports the smaller figure and estimates the apartment's value to be less than a third of Trump's valuation of over $200 million.[87]

On February 1, lawyers for the Trumps filed a request for the subpoenas to be "quashed", again alleging James's "political animus" and that she had thereby violated the Equal Protection Clause of both the Constitution of the United States and New York as well as a state criminal procedural law,[88] the latter two of which the filing states "created protections for subpoenaed witnesses that federal law does not provide". The filing cites the two state laws as dictating that "an agency conducting a criminal investigation through an active grand jury is required, if the witness is subpoenaed, to examine the subject or target of the investigation [in front of] the grand jury."[89]

On February 9, Mazars informed the organization that it would no longer support the financial statements it had prepared for the organization from mid-2010 to mid-2020, owing to findings from the New York AG's January 18 filing and other sources.[55] A Trump Organization spokesperson claimed that the development "effectively renders the investigations by the DA and AG moot".[55] On February 14, separate court filings were made on behalf of the AG and Trump; James cited the Mazars correspondence in requesting that her subpoenas be upheld,[55][90][91] and lawyers for Trump said he lacked knowledge of potentially misleading financial statements.[92] In a five-page statement issued the next day, Trump claimed that Mazars had cut ties with him because of "vicious intimidation tactics" by investigators and that his brand value made up for any alleged financial discrepancies.[91][92] James argued that this contradicted the defensive pleading from a day earlier.[92]

On February 17, Judge Arthur Engoron ruled in favor of James's subpoenas. In response to Trump's lawyer Alina Habba's request for the civil investigation to be paused until the criminal inquiry is concluded, Engoron cited the fact that neither the AG nor DA had subpoenaed the Trumps to appear before a jury.[93][94] However, the New York judge affirmed that refusals by the Trumps to answer potentially incriminating questions in the civil case should not be cited in the criminal matter.[95][d] The lawyer for the two Trump children, Alan Futerfas, admitted that there was no evidence that the Trump children were targets of the criminal probe.[94] Habba accused James of bias and "prosecutorial misconduct", to which Engoron maintained that "a prosecutor [disliking] someone does not prevent a prosecution,"[97][98] stating, "If Ms. James has a thing against [Trump], that's not ... unlawful discrimination. He's just a bad guy she should go after as the chief law enforcement officer of the state."[94][99] Habba also claimed that Trump belongs to a protected class, which the judge pointed out is reserved for categorizations such as race, religion, and sex—not political persuasion.[94][97][e] In his ruling, Engoron derided the organization's portrayal of the AG case as "moot"[98] and set deadlines of 14 days for Donald Trump to produce requested documents and 21 days for depositions from all three Trumps.[94] Habba characterized the ruling as unfair.[98] A notice of appeal was filed on February 28.[101] A request to stay or delay the deadlines could postpone the depositions for months.[96][101] On March 3, Engoron approved an agreement between James and the Trumps that the latter need not testify while the appeal is processed, but Donald Trump must provide requested documents by March 31.[102]

Reactions[]

Eric Trump was deposed by the AG in late 2020.

Some commenters have pointed out the irony of Donald Trump being faced with pleading the Fifth Amendment, which he has expressed disdain for doing, saying it implies a party's guilt.[103][104] In December 2020, Trump told Sean Hannity that "The president out the door needs to pardon his whole family and himself because they want this witch hunt to go on in perpetuity, they're so full of rage and insanity against [me]."[105] In response, some news outlets speculated that the president might preemptively pardon his children in connection with the criminal case, although the power only applies to federal crimes.[27] At a political rally on July 3, 2021, Trump appeared to acknowledge the truth of the New York prosecutors' criminal charges against his company, then described filing taxes as generally confusing; journalist Andrew Feinberg referred to these statements as an "admission". A Slate writer compared Trump's recent alleged confusion about taxes to his prior self-proclaimed expertise, for example saying he was "smart" for not paying income tax during certain years while debating Hillary Clinton in 2016.[11][106]

In mid-2021, the Republican National Committee (RNC) agreed to financially support Trump's legal defense in both inquiries.[107] In October, it paid $121,670 to a law firm employed by Trump. The next month, a Republican (GOP) spokesperson called Trump "a leader of our party [whose] record of achievement is critical to the GOP" and referred to the investigations as a "never ending witch hunt" by Democrats.[22] In December, it was reported that the RNC had agreed to pay up to $1.6 million of Trump's legal expenses for both cases.[107] Some sources have pointed out that the matters being investigated took place prior to Trump becoming president.[22] Speaking to Sean Hannity on Fox News in February 2022, Eric Trump argued that the investigations were only being conducted because his father was "clearly the frontrunner for 2024".[108]

On January 20, 2022, Axios reported that some of Trump's associates have expressed concern with his choice of lawyer in his dispute with the New York AG. Alina Habba of New Jersey has represented Trump in his lawsuit against his niece and in alleged sexual misconduct cases involving E. Jean Carroll and Summer Zervos.[109] According to some of his associates, Trump has a pattern of hiring lawyers to take on cases that are not designed to be won so much as draw publicity. One source close to Trump stated that he had "fallen prey to inexperienced lawyers who are just telling him what he wants to hear", while Eric Trump defended Habba as "incredibly competent".[109] A top D.C. lawyer called Habba's legal motions against James "a huge stretch", but acknowledged that "Prosecutors are supposed to be above politics and just about the facts. When they sound more like politicians, they can get in real trouble with judges."[109]

A criminal defense lawyer employed by NBC News as a legal analyst observes that "Generally, lying to a bank to obtain a loan can be a crime."[47] A former president has never been criminally indicted[78] (with Richard Nixon being pardoned in 1974 for any crimes he may have committed in office).[110] A New York defense lawyer who worked for Cyrus Vance Jr. calls a potential trial against Trump a "logistical nightmare", saying it "would be unprecedented in a courthouse that has seen many, many high-profile cases over the decades." These include Harvey Weinstein's sexual abuse case, which drew protesters. The director of public information for New York's state courts points out that 4,000 court officers (with training similar to police) are employed to uphold public safety if necessary.[78] In the wake of the two lead prosecutors resigning from the criminal case, media outlets and a lawyer for Trump opined that the investigation seemed to be unwinding; some noted that while Vance had confidence in the criminal case, his successor, Bragg, has exhibited less interest.[62][64][111]

See also[]

Notes[]

  1. ^ This drew from interviews with former Trump advisers and employees and over 100,000 pages of tax returns and financial records from Trump businesses.[8] Donald's niece, Mary L. Trump, revealed in her 2020 memoir that she provided the Times with 19 boxes of these financial records.[9]
  2. ^ A lawyer for Donald Trump denied that fraud or tax evasion had been committed, stating that "President Trump had virtually no involvement whatsoever with these matters. The affairs were handled by other Trump family members who were not experts themselves and therefore relied entirely upon [licensed attorneys, Certified Public Accountants and real estate appraisers]".[10] Incidentally, Donald Trump has claimed to be more knowledgeable about taxes "than the greatest C.P.A." and stated that he used such knowledge to his personal gain.[11]
  3. ^ On September 17, 2020, Eric Trump stated that he wished to provide his deposition after the November election, citing his busy travel schedule and wanting "to avoid the use of his deposition attendance for political purposes".[67]
  4. ^ Lawyers for the Trumps have said that Donald Trump would only testify in front of a criminal grand jury, which would grant him immunity.[96]
  5. ^ Additionally, Habba asked whether the AG would "go after Hillary Clinton" in response to a right-wing conspiracy theory that Clinton had spied on President Trump (based on an apparent misreading of a court filing by John Durham).[100]

References[]

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