Grand jury already seated and hearing evidence in criminal case against Donald Trump
One week ago, both New York State Attorney General Letitia James and Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance sent out a statement that their look into the Trump organization now included a criminal investigation. As a further sign of how quickly things are moving—and how far along the case is at this point—prosecutors in Vance’s office have now empaneled a grand jury to hear evidence in the case. It’s a clear signal that someone in this case is likely to be indicted.
As The Washington Post notes, Vance’s investigation is now been underway for over two years. The same applies to James, who announced her investigation in March 2019. Both investigations have been described as “expansive” and are looking into many different aspects of the Trump Organization. The recent announcement appears to signal that both investigations are sharing information, and that both have reached a point where the consequences may go beyond fines.
Add in the fact that these announcements are coming just a short time after Trump left office, and it seems as if there might be a connection to another legal development in the news—the details of the Department of Justice Office of Legal Counsel claiming Donald Trump could not be indicted while in the White House. The Trump Organization, for all its purported wealth, is really a fairly small place. Of the over 500 interconnected companies, almost all belong 100% to Trump alone. If there are criminal charges to be laid, there is one very likely target.
Of course, there are no guarantees. Charges might come down against the corporation, or against someone such as longtime CFO Allen Weisellberg. Or the grand jury might hear the case and determine that no charges are warranted. Though it may seem unlikely prosecutors would seat such a jury unless they thought the chance of an indictment was good, complex and long-running cases such as this are often overseen by a grand jury. According to the Post, the jury has already begun hearing evidence in the Trump case.
Exactly what is being investigated isn’t clear. However, there have been some indications that at least one of the investigations is concerned with the scheme in which Trump has inflated the apparent value of his property when seeking bank loans, and drastically undervalued those same properties at tax time. The scheme could easily generate charges of bank fraud, tax fraud, and conspiracy.
As MSNBC reports, the news that a grand jury has been seated didn’t go over well with the man most likely to be subject to charges. Speaking from Mar-a-Lago, Trump fumed that this was a “continuation of the witch hunt.” In the past, Donald Trump has survived probes into the fraudulent “Trump University” and even more fraudulent Trump family charity and made it out by paying fines, but without facing charges.
That could still happen in this case. But the idea of seeing Donald Trump in front of a New York jury facing charges for manipulating real estate prices is certainly enticing. This isn’t Trump’s only chance at a near-term indictment. Another grand jury is currently hearing evidence in Georgia to determine if Trump will be charged for his interference in the election and attempts to intimidate officials.
As for who will defend Trump if an indictment is handed down, he might want to remember that Rudy Giuliani is kind of busy these days dealing with the investigation into his criminal actions in Ukraine.