When we last checked in with the Trump Organization and the Manhattan District Attorney‘s criminal case against it, things were looking pretty bleak for the ex-president’s company. For one thing, in July, the business and its CFO, Allen Weisselberg, were charged with a cornucopia of crimes, which they apparently kept track of with literal spreadsheets. For another, prosecutors reportedly also had evidence that Weisselberg’s son Barry had followed in his father’s footsteps re: dodging taxes with the help of the Trump Organization, raising the prospect that the elder Weisselberg might feel compelled to cooperate against Donald Trump to save his kid. Even without the pressure of his son potentially doing time, legal experts opined that Cyrus Vance Jr.’s office had an open-and-shut case against the longtime CFO. “The jury will hate [Weisselberg],” former federal prosecutor Cynthia Alksne told MSNBC. “He’s not going to have a jury of people who go to MAGA rallies, he’s going to have a cross section of people who live in Manhattan, who do pay Manhattan taxes, who don’t get free Mercedes, who don’t have somebody else paying for their children’s education and not have tax ramifications for that. So I think he will be a very hated defendant, Mr. Weisselberg, and I’m sure his defense attorneys have told him so.” And as former U.S. attorney Preet Bharara put it, “I am optimistic he’ll be convicted. The law is fairly clear on what is income & what is taxable. He’s a sophisticated executive; mistake is implausible. The company booked much of it as income. And juries hate rich tax cheats.” All of which, obviously, would be very bad, not just for Weisselberg himself, but for his employer and the ex-president.
Anyway, there’s been a lull in news re: the case over the last several weeks, though apparently things remain not great for Weisselberg, the company, and Trump! Per The Wall Street Journal:
Why would the Trump Organization be so loath to comply with the subpoena? We can’t say for sure, but it’s presumably not because the documents in question clear its good name.
As The Journal notes, the elder Calamari has lived in an apartment at Trump Park Avenue for years, and has driven a Mercedes leased through the company. His son lives in Trump Parc East, across from Central Park. Though the indictment against the company does not mention the Calamaris by name, it references two other employees who “received substantial amounts of compensation in the form of lodging in New York City and the payment of automobile leases.” In the case of Allen Weisselberg, prosecutors have accused him and the Trump Organization of a “15-year-long tax-fraud scheme involving off-the-books payments and perks like cars and apartments to employees at the company.” Weisselberg allegedly dodged taxes on $1.7 million in perks that should have been reported as income. As Carey Dunne, general counsel for the Manhattan district attorney, put it when the indictment was unsealed, “This was a sweeping and audacious illegal payments scheme.”
Weisselberg and the Trump Organization have pleaded not guilty. Alan Futerfas, a lawyer for the company, has insisted that the case is a politically motivated witch hunt against the ex-president. A lawyer for Barry Weisselberg did not immediately respond to the Hive’s request for comment. A lawyer for McConney didn’t respond to The Journal’s request for comment. Nicholas Gravante Jr., the Calamaris’ lawyer, told The Journal that he has had a series of meetings and calls with prosecutors in recent weeks and that “the D.A.’s office has asked reasonable questions and we are providing responsive information relating to my clients’ apartments.”