New York | The Trump Organization, which indicted in the coming days? Lawyers for Donald Trump’s firm pleaded Monday to try to avoid him along with prosecutors whom the former Republican president accused of “harassing a political opponent.”
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In recent days, reports have suggested that closed investigations into the cases of the former New York real estate mogul — opened two years ago by the Manhattan attorney general and the New York District attorney general, both elected Democrats — related to suspected tax evasion or insurance fraud — were They are preparing for their first fruits.
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According to several media outlets, Trump Organization lawyers were scheduled to meet with prosecutors on Monday to present their final arguments in favor of not indicting the company.
Information indirectement confirmée par Donald Trump lui-même lundi soir, qui a indiqué dans un communiqué que ses avocats s’étaient vus donner « un jour, aujourd’hui, pour nous défendre d’avoir fait des choses qui des sont banales Affairs “.
Unknown sources were cited by The New York Times Last week he indicated that an indictment by the Trump Organization is under consideration, relating to benefits in kind granted to the holding company’s chief financial officer, Allen Weisselberg, faithful among Donald Trump’s followers, allegedly undisclosed to the tax authorities.
At AFP’s request, neither the prosecutors involved nor lawyers for the Trump Organization – an unlisted family holding company that owns golf clubs, hotels and luxury properties – or Mr Weisselberg have confirmed this information.
“The Question of Days”
For Bennett Gershman, a Pace University law professor and former Manhattan attorney general, the Trump Organization’s indictment should now be “a matter of days.”
Could the company that is the Trump Organization, without Donald Trump or any of his family members – he left the reins of his business to his eldest sons and Mr Weisselberg when he left for the White House in early 2017 – be him, too?
Many forensic experts see this as unlikely and expect Mr Weiselberg, who has so far refused to cooperate with the justice system, to be indicted at the same time as the Trump Organization or shortly thereafter.
But no one risks speculating about a possible indictment of the former Republican president, who held his first major political meeting in Ohio on Saturday since leaving the White House, and uncertainty still surrounds the new presidential nomination in 2024.
One of the Trump Organization’s lawyers, Ron Fichte, confirmed to US media Monday night that Donald Trump will not be indicted personally, “at least not in what will happen this week” – stressing that he is “not yet out of the battlefield.” Woods.”
The former president, now based in Florida, again on Monday called these investigations “a continuation of the greatest witch hunt of all time.”
He also accused Democratic prosecutors of being “desperate to stop his ‘movement and himself’, going so far as to make professional mistakes and harass a political opponent.”
Even if he were indicted, that wouldn’t theoretically stop him from running for president again, under US election laws.
In particular, the ongoing investigation is based on eight years of tax returns from the former president that prosecutors obtained after a lengthy legal battle, and on testimony from his former personal attorney Michael Cohen.
The latter, who was sentenced to three years in prison and who works with investigators, said the company regularly overstates or undervalues its assets, potential offenses related to tax fraud or insurance fraud.
In any case, investigations must continue beyond the first indictments, leaving the door open to new trials in the long run.
And the prospect of seeing justice pursue Donald Trump doesn’t fail to delight his opponents: “He never followed the rules” and “deserves to be imprisoned,” Barbara Reese, the former head of the Trump Organization, declared on CNN.
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