Legal analyst 'doubts additional charges' from NY DA following indictment of ...

An attorney who was involved in legal team in the impeachment of Donald Trump has said he does not believe the Manhattan District Attorney will bring any additional charges in the investigation into the Trump Organization.

Daniel Goldman dismissed the idea of any further indictments noting that the case in which the Trump Organization's Chief Financial Officer Allen Weisselberg is involved would normally have been settled in civil court.

Goldman believes Weisselberg's refusal to cooperate with prosecutors or even enter settlement negotiations could be instructive of what is to come.

Weisselberg was paraded in court wearing handcuffs on Thursday to hear charges that he failed to pay taxes for years on a company car, apartment and school fees for his grandchildren. 

The investigation has cost millions of dollars but could yield just tens of thousands of dollars in back tax.  

Weisselberg is accused of failing to pay tax on $1.76 million of perks since 2005, according to the 25-page indictment. 

The Trump Organization was also charged in a 15-count indictment, that included charges of conspiracy, grand larceny, tax fraud and falsifying business accounts. The maximum prison sentence is 15 years, but he would likely get less, if any time at all. 

'This type of case is often settled civilly. If the Trump Organization wanted to, my guess is they could have engaged in good faith negotiations to try to settle this case with a fine and perhaps avoid a guilty plea or a conviction. They chose to fight this. That says something. It's typical of Donald Trump. But I am a little surprised that this ultimately ended based on these allegations in a criminal charge rather than a settlement,' said Goldman on MSNBC.   

'They've already taken a run at Allen Weisselberg. They have also approached Allen Weisselberg, I am certain, and said, "This is what we have. We would like you to cooperate." Allen Weisselberg said, "Thanks but no thanks, I'm not going to cooperate. I'll take my chances,"' Goldman theorized. 

'He's not facing that much jail time. And I don't think there's any more pressure to add to him based on the fact that he was in handcuffs today. He knew that was coming. He made that conscious decision to get arrested and get indicted rather than cooperate.

'And so I don't think we have any good reason to suspect that he is going to cooperate down the road. So I don't see why there would be additional charges against the Trump Organization unless new evidence comes in. My guess is that they've evaluated this evidence. I don't really see any statute of limitations issues in this indictment that would have required them to do this now as opposed to later, which could be a reason why they're going to bifurcate any charges. So, it's a little confusing to me if they have more, why they would charge this. And for that reason, common sense leads me to believe that they're not going to have any more.'

Goldman made similar points in a series of tweets where he explained how he believes there is unlikely to be any further charges. 

Assistant District Attorney Carey Dunne said: 'As spelled out in the indictment, this was a 15-year long tax fraud scheme.  

'It was orchestrated by the most senior executives who were financially benefiting themselves and others.' 

The indictment accused Weisselberg of failing to pay tax on two leased Mercedes-Benzes, a rent-free apartment, bonuses and school fees paid for by the Trump Organization.

It also said that other, unnamed executives were given similar benefits and that Weisselberg orchestrated the scheme with 'others.' 

Weisselberg, dressed in dark suit and open-necked pale blue shirt, cut a diminished figure in a crowded New York Supreme Court.

He was frequently invisible behind black shirted court officers and spoke only to enter a plea of not guilty. He was required to turn in his passport and will return to court on September 9.

The charges against the company and Weisselberg - whom Trump once praised as doing 'whatever was necessary to protect the bottom line' - were the first indictments delivered in a two-year investigation by the Manhattan district attorney's office.

The various schemes alleged in the indictment include: $1,174,018 in untaxed income used to pay Weisselberg's rent $359,058 in unreported compensation for private school fees $196,245 in untaxed income for Mercedes Benz leases $29,400 in under-the-table cash used to pay holiday tips

Trump Organization lawyers believe they can strip out the school fees and some other items from the charges, possibly reducing the taxable amount to $800,000.

With a state income tax rate of about 10 percent, that means Weisselberg may face a tax bill of just $80,000. 

But the real target may be creating enough leverage to persuade him to 'flip,' according to Michael Cohen, who was sentenced to three years in prison for crimes related to his work as Trump's fixer.

'Weisselberg now knows what handcuffs feel like as well as being placed in a cell,' he told DailyMail.com.

'As the pressure by prosecutors increase on him and his sons, the smart money would be on Weisselberg cooperating for leniency.'

The charges could also complicate the Trump Organization's relationships with banks and partners, not to mention the political future of the former president. 

'The political witch hunt by the radical left Democrats, with New York now taking over the assignment, continues,' he said in a statement. 'It is dividing our country like never before.'

His office emailed another statement later in the afternoon, linking the case more directly to the votes of his supporters.

He asked: 'Do people see the radical left prosecutors, and what they are trying to do to 75M+++ voters and patriots, for what it is?' 

New York Attorney General Letitia James said the developments were an 'important marker' in the investigation of the Trump Organization.

'This investigation will continue, and we will follow the facts and the law wherever they may lead,' she said.  

But Trump's son Eric blasted the investigation before the charges were unsealed, saying taxpayers' money had been wasted.

'It is an absolute abuse of power and a political vendetta,' he told DailyMail.com.

'They are petrified my father will run again in 2024.

'After five years, hundreds of subpoenas, three and a half million pages of documents, and dozens of witnesses, this is what they have?'     

The Trump Organization described Weisselberg as 'a loving and devoted husband, father and grandfather.'

'He is now being used by the Manhattan District Attorney as a pawn in a scorched earth attempt to harm the former President,' it said in a statement. 

'The District Attorney is bringing a criminal prosecution involving employee benefits that neither the IRS nor any other District Attorney would ever think of bringing.

 'This is not justice; this is politics.'

The case against Trump's trusted lieutenant - who began work for the Trump family in 1973 - could give New York prosecutors an opening to pressure him into cooperating and offering evidence about the former president's financial dealings.

But so far Trump has shrugged off the threat and Weisselberg is not believed to have flipped on his boss.

Insiders say he is like a member of the family and are confident he will not give evidence against his employer.

'He's a great guy, just one of the best,' said one. 'Comes in, does his job, has the same lunch every day and goes home to his wife.

Another source said Trump viewed Weisselberg, two years his junior, like a brother.

The indictment follows months of increasing pressure after the Manhattan DA Cyrus Vance, a Democrat, announced he was going to step down at the end of this 2021. 

Vance fought a long battle to get Trump's tax records and has been subpoenaing documents and interviewing company executives and other Trump insiders.

Trump did not respond to reporters' shouted questions about the New York case as he visited Texas on Wednesday, but earlier in the week, the Republican had blasted the prosecutors as 'rude, nasty, and totally biased' and said his company's actions were 'standard practice throughout the U.S. business community, and in no way a crime.'   

Just how essential Weisselberg would be to prosecutors is a matter of debate – with high-stakes relevancy Trump.

On Tuesday, top House Democratic impeachment lawyer Daniel Goldman tweeted that Weisselberg's cooperation is vital to whether prosecutors are able to go after Trump himself.

'As I've been saying for a while, if Allen Weisselberg does not cooperate with the Manhattan DA's office — and all indications are that he has not and will not — that office will not be able to criminally charge Donald Trump for any of the conduct under investigation,' Goldman wrote.

That drew a retort from longtime Trump lawyer and fixer Michael Cohen, who has met numerous times with prosecutors in New York amid the probe. 

'Wrong! They have documents to prove more than you know or should be commenting on. Weisselberg is not the key to a Trump indictment,' Cohen responded. 

Another former federal prosecutor in New York, Daniel Alonson, later tweeted his own view that that potential charges being publicly discussed might not be enough to ensure Weisselberg's cooperation.

Cohen also reacted Wednesday to the news of a looming potential indictment,  calling it a 'Bad day for Trump Organization' but a 'good day for The United States of America!'

'Evading taxes on fringe benefits is important to prosecute - but by itself isn't the type of

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