Former President Donald Trump's eponymous business was found guilty on multiple counts of tax fraud and other financial crimes on Tuesday, jurors in state Supreme Court in Manhattan announced. After more than a day of deliberations, the court declared that both the Trump Organization and the Trump Payroll Corporation broke the law as part of an expansive scheme to shelter top executives from income taxes, convicting the companies on all 17 counts.
Neither the former president nor his family were indicted as part of the case and have all denied any wrongdoing, although prosecutors have alleged Trump "knew exactly what was going on" at his namesake company.
In a statement released shortly after the verdicts were announced, the Trump Organization blamed former CFO Allen Weisselberg, who pleaded guilty to tax fraud charges this summer, claiming "Mr. Weisselberg testified under oath that he 'betrayed' the trust the company had placed in him. The notion that a company could be held responsible for an employee's actions, to benefit themselves, on their own personal tax returns is simply preposterous."
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.
While the Trump Organization is now required to pay just $1.62 million in fines, The New York Times reports that the reputational damage to the former president's business could limit its ability to find potential lenders, while also giving the Trump Organization diminished leverage to negotiate favorable deals.
"The former president's companies now stand convicted of crimes," Manhattan District Attorney Alvan Bragg announced following the verdict. "That is consequential. It underscores that in Manhattan we have one standard of justice for all."
-
Russia: already at war with Europe?Talking Point As Kremlin begins ‘cranking up attacks’ on Ukraine’s European allies, questions about future action remain unanswered
-
Museum head ousted after Trump sword gift denialSpeed Read Todd Arrington, who led the Dwight D. Eisenhower Presidential Library and Museum, denied the Trump administration a sword from the collection as a gift for King Charles
-
Trump declares ‘armed conflict’ with drug cartelsspeed read This provides a legal justification for recent lethal military strikes on three alleged drug trafficking boats
-
Supreme Court rules for Fed’s Cook in Trump feudSpeed Read Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook can remain in her role following Trump’s attempts to oust her
-
‘This isn’t just semantics’Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
-
Miami Freedom Tower’s MAGA library squeezeTHE EXPLAINER Plans to place Donald Trump’s presidential library next to an iconic symbol of Florida’s Cuban immigrant community has South Florida divided
-
Judge rules Trump illegally targeted Gaza protestersSpeed Read The Trump administration’s push to arrest and deport international students for supporting Palestine is deemed illegal
-
Trump: US cities should be military ‘training grounds’Speed Read In a hastily assembled summit, Trump said he wants the military to fight the ‘enemy within’ the US
