Why the Trump Organization indictment 'feels a bit like charging Al Capone' with tax evasion


Thursday's indictment of the Trump Organization and its CFO Allen Weisselberg for fraud and tax crimes (they have both pleaded not guilty) is "not nothing," Quinta Jurecic, a senior editor at Lawfare and Brookings Institution fellow, writes for The Atlantic. But, she adds, it does feel "strangely unsatisfactory," akin to the infamous Prohibition-era gangster Al Capone getting charged "with, well, tax evasion," rather than more extreme crimes.
"It does the job legally, but seems, in a profound way, to miss the point," Jurecic writes. "There's something absurd about the fact that after years of baroque wrondgoing by [former President Donald] Trump, some possibly criminal and some not — flouting campaign finance laws, obstructing justice during the Mueller investigation, blackmailing the president of Ukraine, egging on an insurrection, and that's only from 2016 onward — the first criminal charge related to [Trump] or his business speaks to none of these acts, and doesn't even name Trump himself as a defendant." Read more of Jurecic's thoughts on the indictment at The Atlantic.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Tim is a staff writer at The Week and has contributed to Bedford and Bowery and The New York Transatlantic. He is a graduate of Occidental College and NYU's journalism school. Tim enjoys writing about baseball, Europe, and extinct megafauna. He lives in New York City.
-
Western Alaska reels as storm aftermath prompts mass evacuations
UNDER THE RADAR Alaskan lawmakers point to climate change as airlifts relocate hundreds from coastal communities devastated by the remnants of Typhoon Halong
-
Sudoku hard: October 17, 2025
The Week's daily hard sudoku puzzle
-
Codeword: October 17, 2025
The Week's daily codeword puzzle
-
Gold tops $4K per ounce, signaling financial unease
Speed Read Investors are worried about President Donald Trump’s trade war
-
The struggles of Aston Martin: burning cash not rubber
In the Spotlight The car manufacturer, famous for its association with the James Bond franchise, is ‘running out of road’
-
Why are beef prices rising? And how is politics involved?
Today's Big Question Drought, tariffs and consumer demand all play a role
-
Electronic Arts to go private in record $55B deal
speed read The video game giant is behind ‘The Sims’ and ‘Madden NFL’
-
Labor: Federal unions struggle to survive Trump
Feature Trump moves to strip union rights from federal workers
-
New York court tosses Trump's $500M fraud fine
Speed Read A divided appeals court threw out a hefty penalty against President Trump for fraudulently inflating his wealth
-
Trump said to seek government stake in Intel
Speed Read The president and Intel CEO Lip-Bu Tan reportedly discussed the proposal at a recent meeting
-
Switzerland could experience unique economic problems from Trump's tariffs
In the Spotlight The current US tariff rate on Switzerland is among the highest in the world