Allen Weisselberg, a top official in Trump’s business organization is reportedly preparing to plead guilty in the tax evasion case previously brought by the Manhattan District Attorney. Weisselberg and the Trump organization itself were placed under criminal indictment during the summer of 2021, with prosecutors hoping to “flip” the CFO so they could directly go after the former president.
That didn’t happen, though, because Weisselberg refused to go down that road, and he is now going to take a plea deal that will likely cut his stay in prison far short of the lofty sentence first suggested.
That comes via The Hill.
The Trump Organization’s chief financial officer is coming close to reaching a plea deal in a case investigating whether he funneled off-the-books income to himself and other executives at the company, but the potential deal reportedly does not bring prosecutors any closer to their main target: former President Trump.
The New York Times reported Monday, citing two people with knowledge, that Allen Weisselberg and his lawyers met with a judge and that a hearing is scheduled on Thursday in the case, pointing to a possible agreement being reached by then.
A potential deal might mean Weisselberg faces a far shorter sentence of five months in prison, a person familiar with the matter told the Times.
Prosecutors had hoped that Weisselberg would eventually testify against Trump himself but ultimately refused, despite the potential deal being reached.
Ironically, Weisselberg pleading guilty is actually bad news for the left. As I noted when the indictments were first leaked, the idea here was that he would “flip” and testify against Trump. With that off the table, it represents another dead-in for the “resistance” legal movement which has sought to weaponize government power, and law enforcement specifically, against Trump.
Here’s an example of some of that hope being shared last year.
How many times are we going to do this song and dance? The walls have been “closing in” for seven years now, yet Trump continues to make his opponents look stupid. Even with the recent FBI raid, which has rejuvenated fantasies of the former president being placed in handcuffs for the world to see, the most likely outcome is not an indictment, but some kind of negotiated settlement regarding the documents seized.
With this criminal case in New York all but done, the opportunities to “get Trump” are dwindling before he makes a probable announcement that he’s running for president in 2024. Perhaps the DOJ will surprise and go full banana republic anyway with an indictment over the Espionage Act, but until I see it, I’ll continue to think a lot of this stuff is noise. Still, the left isn’t going to stop. From here until Trump is buried in the ground, they will continue to press the issue against him. It’s become part of who they are.