Tag: Allen Weisselberg

Now Focus Of Criminal Probes, Trump’s Money Man Said He Leaves ‘Legal Side’ To Others

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NEW YORK — Allen Weisselberg, the financial sentry at the Trump Organization now in the crosshairs of prosecutors diving into Donald Trump’s business dealings, frankly claims he steers clear of the “legal side” of the money flow.

In previously unreported deposition documents obtained by the New York Daily News, Weisselberg, who has micromanaged the organization’s finances for decades, shrugged off interest in or knowledge of the legalities of Trump’s till. “That’s not my thing,” he declared.

It’s very much the thing of Manhattan District Attorney Cy Vance Jr., who recently used a grand jury subpoena to seize boxes of documents from Weisselberg’s estranged ex-daughter-in-law, and of New York Attorney General Letitia James, who’s doing a civil investigation into Trump’s alleged asset inflation and deflation. Continue reading.

Trump executive’s son was given sizable salary, generous perks, documents show

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NEW YORK — Former president Donald Trump’s company paid a skating rink manager more than $200,000 in annual salary, $40,000 yearlybonuses and provided free company-owned apartments for his family, according to testimony of the employee, Barry Weisselberg, and his financial documents.

Such payments and perks, as well as other financial support provided to Weisselberg and his family, have drawn new scrutiny from Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus R. Vance Jr. (D) as a potentially key component of his ongoing criminal investigation into the former president’s business activity and finances.

Barry Weisselberg is the son of Trump’s longtime confidant and chief financial officer, Allen Weisselberg, whose cooperation prosecutors are maneuvering to secure, a person familiar with the investigation said, as they evaluate whether there is sufficient evidence to charge Trump, or members of his family or inner circle. Like others, this person spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss an ongoing investigation. Continue reading.

Manhattan DA takes financial records from Trump CFO’s former daughter-in-law

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Investigators from the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office on Thursday seized several boxes and a laptop computer’s worth of financial records as part of their ongoing investigation into former President Donald Trump’s financial dealings, the Washington Post reports. 

Why it matters: The materials come from Jennifer Weisselberg, who is closely connected to the Trump Organization. She is the ex-wife of employee Barry Weisselberg and the former daughter-in-law of Allen Weisselberg, the Trump Organization’s chief financial officer as well as its most senior serving non-family member. 

  • The move highlights how deep the investigation aims to go.

Details: Jennifer Weisselberg is cooperating in the investigation and was complying with a grand jury subpoena that asked her to turn over all financial records connected to the Trump Organization and Wollman Rink, an ice rink in Central Park that Barry Weisselberg managed for the Trump Organization, per the Post. Continue reading.

Trump’s CFO’s ex-daughter-in-law is cooperating with prosecutors and ‘refuses to be silenced,’ her lawyer says

An attorney representing the former daughter-in-law of the Trump Organization’s CFO, Allen Weisselberg, says she’s cooperating with prosecutors conducting an inquiry into Donald Trump’s finances and “refuses to be silenced.”

Jennifer Weisselberg “is committed to speaking the truth, no matter how difficult that may be,” her attorney, Duncan Levin, told Insider in a statement. “She will continue to cooperate fully with the various law-enforcement agencies that are investigating her ex-husband’s family and the very powerful interests they represent.”

“Jennifer refuses to be silenced any longer by those who are conspiring to prevent her from sharing what she has learned over the past 25 years,” Levin added. Continue reading.

Trump blurted insults and showed off lewd photos at shivah for accountant’s mother: report

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Donald Trump showed off nude photos and made passes at family members as his accountant’s family sat shivah for their matriarch.

Investigators in the Manhattan district attorney’s office have debriefed Jennifer Weisselberg, the former daughter-in-law of Trump accountant Allen Weisselberg, who prosecutors are trying to “flip” against his longtime boss, reported The New Yorker.

“His whole worth is, ‘Does Donald like me today?'” Jennifer Weisselberg said. “It’s his whole life, his core being. He’s obsessed. He has more feelings and adoration for Donald than for his wife.” Continue reading.

In Trump probe, Manhattan district attorney puts pressure on his longtime chief financial officer

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The Manhattan district attorney is delving deeply into the personal and financial affairs of the chief financial officer for former president Donald Trump’s company, probing the extent of Allen Weisselberg’s loyalty to Trump and scrutinizing a Trump-owned apartment once occupied by Weisselberg’s son, according to people familiar with the investigation.

This questioning is now led by a former mob prosecutor, and one person familiar with the investigation said it is aimed at “flipping” Weisselberg — attempting to turn one of Trump’s longest-serving and most important aides into a witness against him. 

Cyrus R. Vance Jr. (D), Manhattan’s top prosecutor, has not formally accused anyone of wrongdoing, including Trump, Weisselberg or the latter’s family. But the focus on Weisselberg underscores the depth and ambition of Vance’s inquiry, a criminal investigation broader than any Trump’s company is known to have faced before. Continue reading.

Trump CFO Weisselberg emerges as key person of interest for Dems

The spotlight is shining brightly on the Trump Organization’s chief financial officer following explosive testimony this week from Michael Cohen, who repeatedly pointed to Allen Weisselberg as someone who could tell Congress all it wants to know about the president’s business.

Cohen, Trump’s former personal lawyer, told lawmakers on the House Oversight and Reform Committee on Wednesday that Weisselberg would be able to support allegations that President Trump knew about hush money payments made to women alleging affairs with Trump, and that he could provide details on the president’s potentially illegal tax practices.

Weisselberg reportedly has an immunity deal with federal prosecutors in New York, who Cohen said Wednesday are investigating other alleged illegal acts involving Trump. If he appeared before Congress — and several Democrats are signaling they want him to — it could give lawmakers an opening to learn what those prosecutors have already found out.

View the complete March 1 article by Jacqueline Thomsen and Brett Samuels on The Hill website here.

House panel seeks to interview Trump Organization executive

Democrats on the House Intelligence Committee are planning to request that Trump Organization chief financial officer Allen Weisselberg appear before the panel for questioning, an aide confirmed Thursday.

“The Committee anticipates bringing in Mr. Weisselberg,” the aide told The Hill.

Weisselberg’s attorney declined to comment.

View the complete February 28 article by Jacqueline Thomsen on The Hill website here.

A big question looming over Trump just got bigger: What is Allen Weisselberg spilling about?

Trump Organization CFO Allen Weisselberg has been granted immunity in the federal investigation into Trump’s longtime lawyer Michael Cohen. (Jenny Starrs /The Washington Post)

We learned Tuesday that not only has Michael Cohen implicated President Trump in campaign finance violations, but effectively so too has the parent company for the National Enquirer, American Media Inc.

In a release about Cohen’s three-year sentence, federal prosecutors from the Southern District of New York revealed that AMI has been given immunity from prosecution, just as its head, David Pecker, had previously. SDNY prosecutors also said that AMI admitted its payment to Playboy playmate Karen McDougal was “in concert with” Trump’s presidential campaign and was aimed at burying the story to help elect Trump. As Philip Bump writes, that language is clearly intended to emphasize that this was a campaign finance violation and not just a regular old hush-money payment:

As a part of the agreement, AMI admitted that it made the $150,000 payment in concert with a candidate’s presidential campaign, and in order to ensure that the woman did not publicize damaging allegations about the candidate before the 2016 presidential election.  AMI further admitted that its principal purpose in making the payment was to suppress the woman’s story so as to prevent it from influencing the election.

View the complete December 13 article by Aaron Blake on The Washington Post website here.

Trump Org. CFO’s immunity deal is new problem for Trump

The following article by Jacqueline Thomsen and Olivia Beavers was posted on the Hill website August 24, 2018:

Prosecutors are edging closer and closer to President Trump’s business empire, a fact underlined by the news Friday of an immunity deal reportedly given to the Trump Organization’s longtime chief financial officer (CFO).

While it is unclear that Allen Weisselberg’s reported deal — first reported by the Wall Street Journal on Friday — puts Trump in any specific legal danger, it does mean that prosecutors investigating former Trump personal lawyer Michael Cohen will be talking closely to a man with deep knowledge of Trump’s businesses.

“[Weisselberg] knew where every nickel went to, he knew where every nickel came from,” said Travis Snell, a former assistant attorney general for New York state who worked on the Trump University case.

View the complete article here.