TRUMP’S LONGTIME BOOKKEEPER AND FAMILY CONFIDANT WAS GRANTED IMMUNITY IN EXCHANGE FOR GRAND JURY TESTIMONY ABOUT HUSH MONEY PAID TO TWO WOMEN CLAIMING AFFAIRS WITH TRUMP.
WASHINGTON • Donald Trump’s longtime financial gatekeeper took immunity from prosecution to discuss what he knew about payments to the president’s former personal lawyer Michael Cohen, numerous media outlets reported Friday.
Allen Weisselberg was described as an unassuming, soft-spoken guy who had spent decades avoiding the limelight, first in the 1970s as an accountant for the president’s father, Fred, and then as the Trump Organization’s chief financial officer.
He was said to have met prosecutors weeks ago after a grand jury summons.
The conversations reportedly were about Cohen, who this week pleaded guilty to breaking campaign finance laws over payments to two women claiming affairs with Trump before the 2016 election.
Prosecutors said that Cohen was reimbursed for his role in the payments through a US$35,000 monthly retainer arranged by Trump Organization executives. Cohen effectively accused Trump of being a co-conspirator in a crime by claiming he gave the direction to make the payments.
The Wall Street Journal and NBC News were the first to report on anonymous sources that Weisselberg got immunity to talk to prosecutors.
Weisselberg is deeply familiar with the Trump Organization’s financial housekeeping. Trump — a man who rarely trusts anyone — confided in Weisselberg and relied on him to sign off on details of the company’s most significant deals. Weisselberg oversees the trust that Trump set up to manage his interests in the Trump Organization while he’s in the White House, and also had a prominent position inside the president’s troubled charitable foundation. In short, he was privy to decisions Cohen was never allowed to take part in.
That kind of knowledge is gold to federal investigators. Special counsel Robert Mueller’s team signalled long ago that it might take a closer look at the president’s business dealings as part of its examination of Russia’s assault on the presidential campaign. It’s likely that the probe is exploring whether Trump or others on his business and campaign teams — including members of his family — discussed exchanging policy favours in exchange for financial or political quid pro quos.