Donald Trump may lose his Trump Organization empire following the disposition of a legal case in Manhattan.
Longtime Trump Organization Chief Financial Officer Allen Weisselberg pleaded guilty on Thursday to 15 charges stemming from a tax avoidance scheme at the former president’s company.
Weisselberg attorney Nicholas Gravante Jr. told The New York Times, “rather than risk the possibility of 15 years in prison, he has agreed to serve 100 days.”
CNN’s Erin Burnett interviewed Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist David Cay Johnston about Weisselberg agreeing to testify in the Trump Organization trial. Johnston, who has taught taxes at Syracuse Law, is one of the few journalists who has obtained parts of Trump’s tax returns.
“What happens to the Trump Organization, to the real estate company here, when this is all said and done?” Burnett asked.
“Well, it’s possible in this case or the Letitia James civil case, that the Trump Organization at the top will be extinguished,” Johnston replied.
“Donald can still own his properties, but own them directly and the liability shield from having a corporation goes away,” he explained. “So something horrible happens, his liability personally goes way up. This is bad news for him.”
“Now that Weisselberg has confessed that he’s a thief, a felon, a serial felon, there may be difficulty with banks and trying to get any new financing,” Johnston noted.
A word of explanation is due:
- Trump’s “empire” consists of a number of small companies or corporations. Entities such as these are taxed differently from individuals. Trump has used the money earned by these corporations to finance his lifestyle.
- The New York Attorney General is investigating the Trump corporations for bank, insurance, and tax fraud because Trump would claims the various corporations and their holdings are worth a lot when applying for a bank loan, but not worth much when reporting them for tax purposes.
- Recently Trump made a deposition for the NY AG in which he took the Fifth Amendment over 400 times. In a criminal case, if you take the Fifth, that cannot be used against you. However, in NY, in a civil case, taking the Fifth can be used as an admission that you are guilty.
- Several reports from NY suggest that the NY AG plans to use Trump’s use of the Fifth in his deposition as a reason to seize all his properties because he is guilty of fraud.
- Weisselberg will testify against the Trump Organization, testifying to the massive tax, insurance, and bank fraud that has gone on for 40 years or more, thereby giving the NY AG more ammunition with which to put Trup out of business and possibly in jail.