It is the first time a Trump business has been convicted of criminal conduct and comes as the former president is running for a second term. The momentous verdict also comes as he faces a raft of other legal perils, including criminal probes of his handling of classified documents and of efforts by Trump and his allies to overturn the 2020 election.
Outside the courtroom after the verdict, Bragg commended his team and the jury and said “this was a case about lying and cheating.” “This case was about Allen Weisselberg committing tax fraud on his personal tax returns, etc., with he and every witness repeatedly testifying that President Trump and the Trump Family knew nothing about his actions, which he admits were done solely for his own benefit, and with no benefit to the two companies,” Trump said.
The firm faces “a host of intangibles,” said Bennett Gershman, a professor at Pace University’s law school. “The parent company, as a felon, could be barred from having contracts with government agencies, and it could make it more difficult to do business with banks,” Gershman said in an interview before the verdict. “This is a big deal.”
Prosecutors argued that Weisselberg and Trump Organization Controller Jeffrey McConney were “high managerial agents” who acted on behalf of the companies. The defense contended that the executives cheated for their own enrichment alone and kept the two business units, Trump and his family in the dark.The jurors saw how Weisselberg and other executives, including the firm’s top lawyer and chief operating officer, got significant chunks of their annual pay as untaxed fringe benefits.
what about Hunter Biden