A new report from CNN shows that federal prosecutors in Manhattan are going after not just Donald Trump but also his three oldest children.
This report has not gotten any media attention because of other news, such as the State of the Union address and Adam Schiff’s announcement that the House Intelligence Committee is beginning to investigate all aspects of Donald Trump’s life.
Here’s what CNN reported:
“Federal prosecutors in New York have requested interviews in recent weeks with executives at the Trump Organization, signaling a growing potential threat to President Donald Trump and those in his orbit from criminal investigations by the Manhattan US Attorney’s office.”
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“Trump and his legal team have long harbored concerns that investigations by New York federal prosecutors — which could last throughout his presidency — may ultimately pose more danger to him, his family and his allies than the inquiry by special counsel Robert Mueller.”
“Prosecutors’ recent interest in executives at Trump’s family company may intensify those fears.”
The U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York (SDNY) has at least two ongoing investigations into Trump-related entities that could result in criminal charges against three of the president’s children: Ivanka Trump, Donald Trump Jr., and Eric Trump.
The first one, which grew out of the case against Trump’s former personal attorney, Michael Cohen, is examining possible criminal violations by executives at the Trump Organization.
One Trump Organization executive, chief financial officer Allen Weisselberg, was granted immunity by federal prosecutors to provide information concerning Cohen. This means he is free to testify against the other Trump Organization executives.
Other than Weisselberg, the only Trump Organization executives are Donald Trump, Ivanka Trump, Donald Trump Jr., and Eric Trump.
The second investigation concerns the Trump inauguration committee and financial abuses related to the $107 million in donations raised for his inauguration.
On Monday, prosecutors issued a lengthy and detailed subpoena to the inauguration committee. The subpoena disclosed that prosecutors are investigating a long list of potential financial crimes, some of which may implicate the president’s children also.
Although the Trump inauguration committee had some indirect ties to Donald Trump’s kids, this new reporting from CNN is all about Trump’s children.
The SDNY has subpoenaed the top Trump Organization employees, i.e, Trump’s kids, to testify in a criminal investigation. They wouldn’t do this unless the real targets of their criminal probe are these people who are running the company.
The Trump Organization IS the Trump family. Its only real executives, other than Weisselberg, are all named Trump.
Since the SDNY already gave Weisselberg immunity months ago in exchange for his cooperation, we know that he’s not the target of their criminal investigation.
Weisselberg has worked for Donald Trump for several decades, cutting all the checks and keeping the books of the company. And even he is cooperating with prosecutors now. He had no choice but to cave, once he realized he could go down for the Trump family’s crimes.
The evidence Weisselberg provides to the SDNY prosecutors will be invaluable in making their criminal cases against the other executives, meaning Ivanka, Don Jr, and Eric, as well as the president.
The only logical conclusion from this new information is that the SDNY is accumulating evidence against Trump’s kids and is planning to indict them.
Remember that the SDNY is working very closely with the Mueller probe. If they charge Ivanka, Don Jr, and Eric Trump with serious crimes, then Mueller can use that as leverage against the president. It may be enough leverage, in fact, to force Trump out of office.
Bob Mueller knows that an indictment of the president — as well as impeachment proceedings against the president — would create a firestorm of political backlash. He also knows that the president does not want to see his three oldest children spend time in prison.
Therefore, the easiest way to get Donald Trump out of office may be to do exactly what he is doing: bring criminal charges against his kids. And this new information shows that he and the SDNY prosecutors plan to do exactly that.
I am a lifelong Democrat with a passion for social justice and progressive issues. I have degrees in writing, economics and law from the University of Iowa.
