Re: Supreme Court orders Trump to hand over his tax returns to New York prosecutors
New York district attorney convenes grand jury in Trump criminal inquiry
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/...ation-new-york
The development signals that the Manhattan district attorney’s office was moving toward seeking charges as a result of its two-year investigation, which included a lengthy legal battle to obtain Trump’s tax records.
Cyrus Vance Jr, the Manhattan district attorney, is conducting a wide-ranging investigation into a variety of matters such as hush-money payments paid to women on Trump’s behalf, property valuations and employee compensation. Vance has been using an investigative grand jury through the course of his investigation to issue subpoenas and obtain documents. That panel kept working while other grand juries and court activities were shut down because of the coronavirus pandemic.
The investigation includes scrutiny of Trump’s relationship with his lenders; a land donation he made to qualify for an income tax deduction; and tax write-offs his company claimed on millions of dollars in consulting fees it paid.
The new grand jury could eventually be asked to consider returning indictments.
The new grand jury is the latest sign of increasing momentum in the criminal investigation into the Republican ex-president and his company, the Trump Organization.
Letitia James, the New York attorney general, said last week that she assigned two lawyers to work with Vance’s office on the probe after her civil investigation into Trump evolved into a criminal matter.
Trump issued a statement last week complaining that he’s being “unfairly attacked and abused by a corrupt political system”. He contends the investigations are a “witch hunt” and part of a Democratic plot to silence his voters and block him from running for president again.
Well, he would say that, wouldn't he .....