Trump Organization tax case wrapping up
If convicted, former president’s company could be fined $1M
NEW YORK — Donald Trump “knew exactly what was going on” with top Trump Organization executives who schemed for years to dodge taxes on company-paid perks, a prosecutor said Thursday, challenging defense claims that the former president was unaware of the plot at the heart of the company’s tax fraud case.
Manhattan prosecutor Joshua Steinglass lobbed the bombshell allegation during closing arguments. He promised to share more details when he resumes on Friday, buoyed by the judge’s decision to grant prosecutors permission to veer into territory that had been considered off limits because Mr. Trump is not on trial.
Judge Juan Manuel Merchan, overruling a defense objection after the jury had left court, said the company’s lawyers opened the door by asserting in their closing arguments that Mr. Trump was ignoring of the scheme, hatched by his longtime finance chief just steps from his Trump Tower office.
“It was the defense who invoked the name Donald Trump numerous times,” Judge Merchan said, setting up a potentially explosive final day of arguments before jurors deliberate next week.
Prosecutors had given mixed signals about Mr. Trump’s importance to the case, telling a judge early on, “this case is not about Donald Trump,” but then repeatedly asking witnesses about him; showing a witness copies of Mr. Trump’s tax returns and, ultimately, seeking to connect the dots to him in closing arguments.
Mr. Trump has denied any knowledge of the scheme, writing Tuesday on his Truth Social platform: “There was no gain for ‘Trump,’ and we had no knowledge of it.”
Mr. Steinglass said the Trump Organization “cultivated a culture of fraud and deception” by lavishing luxe perks on executives and falsifying records to hide the compensation.
Mr. Steinglass’ at times fiery summation followed defense arguments that sought to focus blame for the fraud on Allen Weisselberg, the senior adviser and ex-CFO who has admitted scheming to avoid paying personal income taxes on a company-paid apartment, luxury cars and other goodies.
“Weisselberg did it for Weisselberg,” Trump Organization lawyer Michael Van der Veen told jurors, punctuating his closing argument with the defense team’s mantra for the monthlong trial.
Mr. Steinglass pushed back when it was his turn, telling jurors: “Both halves of that sentence are wrong. It wasn’t just Weisselberg doing it and it wasn’t just Weisselberg who benefited.”
The Trump Organization, the entity through which Mr. Trump manages his real estate holdings and other ventures, is accused of helping Weisselberg and other executives avoid paying income taxes on company-paid perks.
Mr. Steinglass argued that the Trump Organization — through its subsidiaries Trump Corp. and Trump Payroll Corp. — is liable because Weisselberg and an underling he worked with, controller Jeffrey McConney, were “high managerial” agents entrusted to act on behalf of the company and its various entities.
Mr. Steinglass showed the jury a spreadsheet that detailed the compensation with 1099 bonuses for Weisselberg and other high-level executives, including the fringe benefits not reported on tax documents.
The spreadsheet should be called “‘How I did it,’ by Jeff McConney,” Mr. Steinglass quipped.
The prosecutor wondered aloud whether ‘’the fraud would have ever been detected, had Mr. McConney not put it in writing.
Mr. McConney, however, was an unreliable witness on the stand, clearly favoring the defense team during his testimony, Mr. Steinglass said.
The company controller never reported to Mr. Trump the fraudulent business practices he claimed Weisselberg put him up to because he assumed the company owner already knew, Mr. Steinglass suggested to the jury.
“He undoubtedly knew what you all must at least suspect — that Donald Trump knew exactly what was going on with his top executives,” Mr. Steinglass said.
If convicted, the Trump Organization could be fined more than $1 million. Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, who watched Mr. Steinglass’ closing from the courtroom gallery, has said that his office’s investigation of Mr. Trump is “active and ongoing,” and that no decision has been made on whether to charge him.
But company lawyers argued that Weisselberg was only intending to benefit himself with his tax dodge scheme, not the Trump Organization, and that the company shouldn’t be blamed for his transgressions.
“We are here today for one reason and one reason only: the greed of Allen Weisselberg,” Trump Organization lawyer Susan Necheles said, her remarks accompanied at one point by the wail of a siren from an emergency vehicle outside.
The tax fraud case is the only trial to arise from the Manhattan district attorney’s three-year investigation of Mr. Trump and his business practices. Thursday’s closing arguments were the last chance for prosecutors and defense lawyers to sway jurors before they deliberate next week.
Weisselberg pleaded guilty in August to dodging taxes on $1.7 million in extras and testified against the Trump Organization in exchange for a promised sentence of five months in jail.
But company lawyers argued that Weisselberg was only intending to benefit himself with his tax dodge scheme, not the Trump Organization, and that the company shouldn’t be blamed for his transgressions.
“We are here today for one reason and one reason only: the greed of Allen Weisselberg,” Trump Organization lawyer Susan Necheles said, her remarks accompanied at one point by the wail of a siren from an emergency vehicle outside.
The tax fraud case is the only trial to arise from the Manhattan district attorney’s three-year investigation of Mr. Trump and his business practices. Thursday’s closing arguments were the last chance for prosecutors and defense lawyers to sway jurors before they deliberate next week.
“Along the way, [longtime company finance chief Allen Weisselberg] messed up. He got greedy. Once he got started, it was difficult for him to stop.”
— Susan Necheles, Trump Organization lawyer