Manhattan DA says news reports indicate Trump could face tax fraud charges - UPI.com
Sept. 21 (UPI) -- The Manhattan District Attorney's Office on Monday argued that news reports of President Donald Trump's misconduct justify its subpoena seeking his tax records.
The filing by District Attorney Cyrus Vance's general counsel, Carey Dunne, stated that Trump could face criminal charges including scheme to defraud, falsification of business records, insurance fraud and criminal tax fraud, based on news reports and testimony regarding the president's financial dealings.
"Even if the grand jury were testing the truth of public allegations alone, such reports, taken together, fully justify the scope of the grand jury subpoena at issue in this case," Dunne's filing states.
Vance's investigation includes alleged hush-money payments to two women who claimed to have had affairs with Trump and a "variety of business transactions."
Monday's filing states that the investigation "is based on information derived from public sources, confidential informants and the grand jury process."
It cites reporting and public testimony that Trump allegedly inflated the value of his properties to lenders and investors and paid hush money to adult-film actress Stormy Daniels and former Playboy model Karen McDougal regarding the affairs, which he has denied.
Dunne noted that any false statements Trump made to business partners, potential lenders, insurers or tax authorities about his business properties made from Trump Tower or the Trump Organization's headquarters in Manhattan could lead to criminal charges.
On Sept. 1, the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals blocked Vance's access to the documents and scheduled a Sept. 25 hearing to hear arguments from Trump's attorneys that the subpoena is too broad.
Trump is totally unfit for office. How will it be explained to posterity if he is given four more years?
We had a greatest generation and era in the middle of the last century, , now we will have the worst era to send down to grandchildren and great grandchildren. What the hell are people thinking? All this criminality and chaos from the president just in the hope of forestalling diversity ? It can't be forestalled.