CNN Legal Analyst Calls Filing From DA’s Office ‘Bad News’ for Trump: ‘Not Just Poking Around… They’re Looking at Specific Crimes’
A new federal court filing from the Manhattan district attorney’s office seeking to get President Donald Trump’s to comply with a subpoena for his tax returns got a fair amount of press attention Monday for what it suggested about the scope of the office’s investigation.
The Manhattan district attorney’s office suggested on Monday that it has been investigating President Trump and his company for possible bank and insurance fraud, a significantly broader inquiry than the prosecutors have acknowledged in the past…
The prosecutors did not directly identify the focus of their inquiry but said that “undisputed” news reports last year about Mr. Trump’s business practices make it clear that the office had a legal basis for the subpoena.
The reports, including investigations into the president’s wealth and an article on the congressional testimony of his former lawyer and fixer, Michael D. Cohen, said that the president may have illegally inflated his net worth and the value of his properties to lenders and insurers. Lawyers for Mr. Trump have said he did nothing wrong.
On CNN Monday, legal analyst Elie Honig said, “Any way you gut it, this is bad news for the president.”
“This shows me the Manhattan D.A. and his prosecutors are focussed and they’re serious. They’re not just poking around seeing what they can find in terms of financial records. They’re looking at specific crimes,”he said. “It’s important they’re looking at more than the hush money payments.”
Reporter Kara Scanell noted how the DA’s office is noting public reporting and “accusations like those made by Michael Cohen that suggest the Trump Organization was inflating or deflating the value of its assets, that would fall within the scope of the subpoena.”
You can watch above, via CNN.
