State attorney general probes key Trump aide
Obtains financial records of CFO and his family
The New York attorney general has gathered personal financial records of the Trump Organization's longtime chief financial officer and his family, according to a witness who provided some documents - another sign of legal pressure on one of former president Donald Trump's closest aides.
Allen Weisselberg has handled Trump's finances for decades, rising to become the most powerful person in the company not named "Trump."
Now, as the Trump Organization faces two separate investigations led by state Attorney General Letitia James, D, and Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus R. Vance Jr., D - it appears that both sets of investigators have begun scrutinizing Weisselberg's personal finances as well.
In complex investigations, prosecutors often seek evidence of wrongdoing by subordinates as a way to pressure them to "flip" and reveal damaging information about their bosses. The pressure by both offices being brought to bear on Weisselberg appears designed to pursue that strategy against Trump, although neither James nor Vance has alleged wrongdoing by Trump, Weisselberg or anyone else.
James's interest in Weisselberg's personal finances was described by Jennifer Weisselberg, the CFO'S former daughterin-law. Jennifer Weisselberg, who was married to Weisselberg's son Barry from 2004 to 2018, told The Washington Post on Thursday that James's investigators had taken seven boxes of financial data from her in November, including records of accounts held jointly by Barry and his father.
Jennifer Weisselberg said James's office also wanted records about two Trump Organizationcontrolled apartments where she said she and her husband had lived rent-free. Barry Weisselberg was also a Trump employee: He helped manage one of the company's ice rinks.
"The attorney general is really focused on compensation," Jennifer Weisselberg said. She said the investigators' goal seemed to be determining if "Trump Payroll Corp. is avoiding paying employee taxes, state taxes" on free benefits.
Jennifer Weisselberg's attorney, Duncan Levin, confirmed the inquiry by James's office.
Attorneys for Allen and Barry Weisselberg both declined to comment.the Trump Organization did not respond to a request for comment Thursday.
Jennifer Weisselberg and her attorney said their contact at the attorney general's office has been an official named Gary Fishman, whose title is "special adviser to the criminal justice division."
James's office declined to comment on Thursday.
Vance, the Manhattan district attorney, has also asked witnesses about benefits given to Barry and Allen Weisselberg, according to Jennifer Weisselberg and other people familiar with Vance's inquiry.
Jennifer Weisselberg said she had first been contacted by the attorney general's office in September. At that point, she said, investigators had asked her about properties that James had already named as the focus of her investigation, including Trump's Seven Springs estate in suburban New York and his high-rise hotel in Chicago.