New York prosecutors in “final stages” of taking down Trump Organization CFO Allen Weisselberg
When the news broke a few weeks ago that the Manhattan District Attorney was empaneling a grand jury for the specific purpose of bringing indictments in the ongoing criminal case against Donald Trump and the Trump Organization, I hesitated to predict precisely when Trump himself would be indicted. But I did predict that Trump Organization CFO Allen Weisselberg would likely be indicted rather quickly. Sure enough, here we go.
This evening the New York Times is reporting that the Manhattan DA is in the “final stages” of bringing a criminal case against Weisselberg, and that he’ll be indicted “this summer.” It’s worth pointing out that summer begins five days from now – so he’s definitely on the clock. The Times article also references the fact that prosecutors have been digging into Weisselberg’s son’s finances, which seemingly implies that he could be indicted as well. But this isn’t really just about indicting Weisselberg or his son.
The way these things work is that prosecutors only care about getting Weisselberg to flip on Donald Trump and the Trump family. If they have to indict him and then put him on trial, that entire process could take a year or more. By that time, they’ll have had to move ahead with the criminal case against Trump without Weisselberg’s help.
Instead, the goal is to get Weisselberg to flip on Trump now. That’s accomplished by making Weisselberg realize that he (and his son) are completely screwed, and that there’s no point in going to trial. Today’s leak by the DA’s office is surely for the purpose of making Weisselberg realize he’s almost out of time.
If today’s news doesn’t convince Allen Weisselberg to flip, then hopefully his indictment and arrest (and perhaps the indictment and arrest of his son) will convince him. Michael Cohen, a key witness in the DA’s investigation, has previously stated that there’s already more than enough evidence to take Donald Trump down. But obviously, the case will become even more bulletproof if Weisselberg cooperates as well.
