Thursday, December 31, 2020

Trump's a desperate man

And very dangerous.
The Manhattan District Attorney's Office has retained forensic accounting specialists to aid its criminal investigation of President Trump and his business operations, as prosecutors ramp up their scrutiny of his company's real estate transactions, according to people familiar with the matter.

District Attorney Cyrus R. Vance Jr. opened the investigation in 2018 to examine alleged hush-money payments made to two women who, during Trump’s first presidential campaign, claimed to have had affairs with him years earlier. The probe has since expanded, and now includes the Trump Organization's activities more broadly, said the people familiar with the matter. Vance’s office has suggested in court filings that bank, tax and insurance fraud are areas of exploration.

[...]

Vance has contracted with FTI Consulting to look for anomalies among a variety of property deals, and to advise the district attorney on whether the president’s company manipulated the value of certain assets to obtain favorable interest rates and tax breaks. [...] The probe is believed to encompass transactions spanning several years.

[...]

In July, the U.S. Supreme Court rejected Trump’s argument that, as president, he is immune from state court proceedings. Since then, he has argued that the subpoena for his financial information is deficient, amounts to political “harassment” and was issued in “bad faith.”

Though lower courts have rejected those arguments as well, the matter is once again before the Supreme Court. Trump has requested a stay, or a suspension of the proceedings, in his fight with Vance. If the president’s request is denied, the district attorney’s office should get immediate access to his tax records.

[...]

It is possible Vance could find evidence that the Trump Organization as a business entity has broken the law, without attaching personal liability to Trump or other individuals at his company. To bring criminal charges, the district attorney must be able to prove there was an intent to break the law — which probably would require the testimony of an insider witness, experts have said.

  WaPo
Calling Michael Cohen.

...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.

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