MAY 19th 2021: The United States House of Representatives has passed a bipartisan bill to create a special commission to investigate the January 6, 2021 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol Building. - File Photo by: Dennis Van Tine/STAR MAX/IPx 2017 1/11/17 President-Elect Donald Trump holds his first press conference since the 2016 election on January 11, 2017 in New York City. (NYC)
The prosecutor overseeing the criminal investigation of former President Donald Trump and his business dealings has convened a grand jury, indicating that he has a case against Trump or his organization and an indictment is highly likely and imminent.
New York District Attorney Cyrus R. Vance Jr. has been investigating the former president and his business for more than two years. The move suggests it has reached an advanced stage and that Vance thinks he has found evidence of a crime, Washington Post reported.
Investigators are scrutinizing Trump’s business practices before he was president, according to people familiar with the matter who spoke anonymously to the Washington Post. This includes whether the value of properties in the Trump real estate portfolio was manipulated to defraud banks and insurance companies and if any tax benefits were derived from illegal asset valuations. The DA is also looking at compensation provided to top Trump Organization executives.
Trump no longer has immunity from prosecution that he had as president or the power to pardon himself and his allies. He called the investigation politically motivated in a statement Tuesday, saying the seating of the grand jury “a continuation of the greatest Witch Hunt in American history.”
“This is purely political, and an affront to the almost 75 million voters who supported me in the Presidential Election, and it’s being driven by highly partisan Democrat prosecutors,” Trump said.
The involvement of a grand jury suggests an indictment is “highly likely” and imminent, said Patrick Cotter, a former federal prosecutor who oversaw organized crime investigations, in a USAToday report.
“My guess … is that Vance feels he has the evidence to get an indictment and is in a hurry to get it presented, so he can get the indictment voted and filed,” Cotter said. “That will take some time, and there is other work needed to finalize an indictment, but I imagine that an indictment is essentially imminent.”
In April, the Manhattan DA’s office seized financial records from the home of Jennifer Weisselberg, former daughter-in-law of Allen Weisselberg, chief financial officer of the Trump Organization.
“If Vance does intend to seek an indictment against Trump or the kids, it is likely that will be the last step taken, and only after he has first rolled up cooperating witnesses like Weisselberg,” said Bradley Moss, a national security lawyer, in a USAToday report.
Trump is facing two investigations of his business practices in New York. Vance’s criminal investigation began in 2018, after Trump’s longtime former lawyer Michael Cohen turned on Trump after pleading guilty to making hush-money payoffs on Trump’s behalf and lying to Congress. Cohen pleaded guilty.
A separate investigation involves New York Attorney General Letitia James’ civil investigation of the Trump Organization, started in 2019 after Cohen testified to Congress and said Trump had misled lenders and tax authorities by manipulating valuations of his assets.
Last week, James announced she’s joined forces with Vance in the criminal investigation of the Trump Organization, adding pressure on Trump over what was a civil matter.
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