Put That on a Red Hat: Trump’s Family Business Convicted of 17 Different Crimes

It’s never a good thing, especially when you’re running for President of the United States, to have to say, “My company has been convicted of more than a dozen crimes that prosecutors say I have explicitly sanctioned.” It’s just not a great look! Unfortunately for donald trump, that’s exactly the look he’ll be sporting on the 2024 runway from now on, thanks to the verdict just handed down by a New York State Supreme Court jury.

On Tuesday, the Trump Organization, which was started by Trump’s father and which the ex-president has owned for many decades, was guilty of 17 different crimes, including tax evasion, conspiracy and falsification of commercial documents. The case had been charged in July 2021 alongside its long-time CFO, Allen Weisselberg, but unlike Weisselberg, who pleaded guilty to the long-running tax evasion scheme last August, had maintained his innocence. Prosecutors had accused the business of compensating the CFO (and other executives) with unofficial benefits in an attempt to reduce their taxable income; in Weisselberg’s case, those perks included things like a free apartment on the Upper West Side, a pair of rented Mercedes-Benzes, private school tuition for his grandchildren, and cash at Christmas. so that Weisselberg could distribute “personal holiday gratuities”. among others. The scheme benefited not only Weisselberg, which owed less income tax, but also the Trump Organization itself, which avoided payroll taxes on benefits. According to the indictment, the company maintained literal spreadsheets of his crimes.

Although Donald Trump has not been personally charged, his name has been cited throughout the trial, prosecutors to accuse him to “explicitly sanction tax evasion”. Hours before the ex-president announced he was running for office for the third time, Weisselberg, whose plea deal required him to tell the truth, Told the jury that Trump was not only aware of the untaxed benefits at the heart of the government’s criminal case – he was the one who authorized them. When asked if the private school tuition was personally paid by Trump, Weisselberg replied, “Correct.” From the rent-free apartment he lived in, assistant district attorney Susan Hoffinger Weisselberg asked, “Is it your understanding that has been authorized by Mr. Trump?” to which Weisselberg replied, “That was my understanding, yes.” Weisselberg definitely confirmed that the scheme saved the Trump Organization money, which the notoriously cheap Trump would undoubtedly have been very happy.

Although the maximum financial penalty the Trump Organization will have to pay (less than $2 million) is relatively paltry for a company of its size, as The New York Times Remarksit’s the ripple effect for Trump, who would show up hoping to shut down various investigations into his conduct, that could hurt the most.

The company’s belief… could now spill over into the 2024 presidential race, providing early fodder for naysayers and their attack ads.

It could also lay the groundwork for the district attorney’s office to step up its broader criminal investigation into Mr Trump’s business practices – and shut down the money paid to a porn star who said he had an affair with him. — an investigation that has gained momentum in recent months, according to people with knowledge of the matter.