THREAD: What should we make of today's indictment of the Trump Organization and its CFO, Allen Weisselberg?
1/ Today the Manhattan DA charged Allen Weisselberg and two entities that are commonly referred to as the "Trump Organization" with a tax fraud scheme spanning from 2005 to the present.
2/ The scheme at issue here is very simple. The Trump Organization paid money (in the form of rent, tuition, cars, and other items) to executives under the table and hid those payments from tax authorities.
This is a common tax scheme that any jury could get its head around.
THREAD: What should we make of the news that the Trump Organization and its Chief Financial Officer Allen Weisselberg were indicted by a Manhattan grand jury?
1/ Today a Manhattan grand jury returned criminal indictments against the Trump Organization and its CFO, Allen Weisselberg.
This was anticipated, given that defense counsel was given the opportunity to "pitch" prosecutors to convince them not to charge. washingtonpost.com/politics/trump…
2/ The charges are reportedly related to unpaid taxes on benefits for Trump Organization executives.
Bringing narrow charges now, with months of time remaining for this grand jury, suggests that prosecutors don't have the evidence to bring more serious charges at this time.
THREAD: What should we make of the news that the Manhattan DA has convened a grand jury in his office's investigation of Donald Trump and his business?
1/ Today the @washingtonpost reported that Manhattan DA Cy Vance has convened a grand jury and that this grand jury may eventually consider whether to indict Trump and/or his associates or businesses. washingtonpost.com/national-secur…
2/ A grand jury is just a group of ordinary people chosen at random who hear evidence presented to them by prosecutors.
Prosecutors have the authority to issue subpoenas for documents and testimony as part of their grand jury investigation.