New grand jury seated in criminal probe of Trump
NEW YORK – New York prosecutors investigating former President Donald Trump’s business dealings convened a new grand jury to hear evidence in the probe as the previous panel’s term was set to run out, a person familiar with the matter told The Associated Press.
The development comes as the Manhattan district attorney’s office is considering more indictments in a case that has already resulted in tax fraud charges against Trump’s company, the Trump Organization, and its longtime CFO Allen Weisselberg.
Trump remains under investigation after District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr. led a multiyear fight to get access to Trump’s tax records.
The person was not authorized to speak publicly and did so on condition of anonymity. The news of the new grand jury was first reported by The Washington Post. The Manhattan DA’S office declined comment.
Investigators working for Vance and New York Attorney General Letitia James have spent more than two years to determine if the Trump Organization misled banks or tax officials about the value of the company’s assets, inflating them to gain favorable loan terms or minimizing them to reap tax savings.
As part of a continuing civil investigation, James’ office issued subpoenas to local governments in November 2019 for records pertaining to Trump’s estate north of Manhattan, Seven Springs, and a tax benefit Trump received for placing land into a conservation trust. Vance issued subpoenas about a year ago seeking many of the same records.
James’ office has also been looking at similar issues relating to a Trump office building in New York City, a hotel in Chicago and a golf course near Los Angeles. Her office also won a series of court rulings forcing Trump’s company and a law firm it hired to turn over troves of records.
The New York Times reported last month that Westchester District Attorney
Mimi Rocah had opened an investigation into whether the Trump Organization misled officials to cut taxes for a golf course.
In the criminal case, Weisselberg has pleaded not guilty to charges he collected more than $1.7 million in offthe-books compensation, including apartment rent, car payments and school tuition. Trump’s company was also charged in the case, which prosecutors have described as a “sweeping and audacious” tax fraud scheme.
Prosecutors have also been weighing whether to seek charges against the company’s chief operating officer, Matthew Calamari Sr.
According to the indictment, from 2005 through this year, the Trump Organization and Weisselberg, 74, cheated tax authorities by conspiring to pay senior executives off the books by way of lucrative fringe benefits and other means. Weisselberg alone was accused of defrauding the federal, state and city governments out of more than $900,000 in unpaid taxes and undeserved tax refunds.
Trump was not charged with any wrongdoing, but prosecutors noted he signed some of the checks at the center of the case. In recent months, a pair of Trump Organization executives testified before the grand jury hearing evidence in the Manhattan case.