Trump company CFO surrenders to authorities as charges close in
NEW YORK (Reuters) – The Trump Organization’s longtime chief financial officer Allen Weisselberg surrendered to authorities on Thursday, as he and Donald Trump’s namesake company prepared to face the first charges from a criminal investigation.
Weisselberg and the Trump Organization are expected to be arraigned later in the day in a New York state court in Manhattan, a person familiar with the matter has said. The exact charges being brought by the district attorney, Cyrus Vance, were not immediately revealed.
“Mr. Weisselberg intends to plead not guilty and he will fight these charges in court,” Weisselberg’s lawyers Mary Mulligan and Bryan Skarlatos said in a joint statement.
Vance’s office has been working with investigators from the office
of New York Attorney-General Letitia James.
An indictment of the Trump Organization could undermine the company’s relationships with banks and business partners, and complicate Trump’s political future as he contemplates running again for president in 2024.
In a statement, the Trump
Organization said prosecutors were using Weisselberg, who has worked for the Trump family business for 48 years, “as a pawn in a scorched earth attempt to harm the former president.”
“This is not justice; this is politics,” the company said.
Trump himself is not expected to be charged this week, though prosecutors have said their probe into his company is continuing, his lawyer Ronald Fischetti said.
Trump has denied wrongdoing, and called the probe a “witch hunt” by politically-motivated prosecutors. Vance and James are both Democrats.
The Trump Organization called Vance’s case a prosecution that neither the Internal Revenue Service nor any other district attorney would ever bring.
In a statement on Monday, Trump called prosecutors biased and said his company’s actions were “in no way a crime.”
The Trump Organization ma face fines if convicted.