Trump Organization finance chief ‘gets immunity’ in Cohen probe

Donald Trump’s long-time financial gatekeeper took immunity to discuss what he knew about payments to the president’s former lawyer Michael Cohen, numerous USA media outlets reported on Friday.

Weisselberg was subpoenaed last month to testify as part of the ongoing criminal investigation into Trump’s former attorney Michael Cohen, the Journal reported.

Cohen pleaded guilty this week in federal court in Manhattan to campaign finance violations alleging he coordinated with Trump on a hush-money scheme to buy the silence of a porn actress and a Playboy model who alleged affairs.

The news came hours after it was revealed that David Pecker, the owner of the tabloid National Enquirer that bought and killed negative or damaging stories about Trump, had also got immunity.

One of the executives is American Media Chief Executive David Pecker, a longtime Trump friend, according to the reports.

On Thursday night, The New York Times reported that the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office, unconnected to the federal prosecutors investigating the payments, were weighing possible criminal charges against the Trump Organization and those two unnamed senior officials. Aside from Trump himself, Weisselberg is the longest-serving employee of the Trump Organization.

After the disclosure of the recording, Alan Futerfas, an attorney for the Trump Organization, disputed the idea that Weisselberg had signed off on Cohen’s plan.

Prosecutors said that Mr Cohen was reimbursed for his role in the payments through a $35,000 (€30,000) monthly retainer arranged by Trump Organisation executives.

People instantly recognized who was in Conway’s sights in this tweet.

He also predicted the report will show the president did nothing wrong and if so, he and his legal team will admit he was very fair.

“The only reason to do that would be to hide the nature of the payment and to make it tax deductible”, Ware said.

While both men were granted immunity in the weeks before Cohen’s plea, they are theoretically obligated to cooperate in future related federal probes.

The Enquirer endorsed Trump for president in 2016, the first time it had ever officially backed a candidate. Then Trump added: “President Obama had a big campaign finance violation and it was easily settled!”

Donald Trump demands absolute loyalty from his staff, even though he treats them with contempt and summarily dismisses them if they aren’t obsequious enough or if they dare grab the spotlight for a moment.

Democratic forces hoping to nail Trump for alleged Russian Federation collusion are now pinning their hopes on Michael Cohen, who was convicted on eight counts tax fraud. We don’t know, to be clear, whether Weisselberg gave prosecutors information that the president was involved in the payments.

Independents who supported Trump in 2016 told Carroll they might re-consider their support if Trump pardons either Manafort or Cohen.

It’s clear that Cohen’s bills and the way Trump’s company accounted for them “were meant to hide the truth”, Bederow said, adding that such conduct would be a Class E felony in NY.

NY state laws could also come into play.