JUST IN: New York City and State Prosecutors Reportedly Investigating Trump for Fraud Over Tax Write-Offs
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Prosecutors in from the Manhattan District Attorney’s office as well as the New York Attorney Generals’ office are conducting simultaneous and independent tax fraud investigations into President Donald Trump.
According to the New York Times, investigators working for Manhattan D.A. Cyrus Vance and New York AG Letitia James are probing millions of dollars in tax write-offs taken by Trump for consulting fees paid to his daughter, Ivanka. Both city and state prosecutors have subpoenaed the Trump Organization recently for the tax records related to the fees. Trump’s daughter is not considered a target of either investigation, per the Times.
Among the revelations was that Mr. Trump reduced his taxable income by deducting about $26 million in fees to unidentified consultants as a business expense on numerous projects between 2010 and 2018.
Some of those fees appear to have been paid to Ms. Trump, The Times found. On a 2017 disclosure she filed when joining the White House as a presidential adviser, she reported receiving payments from a consulting company she co-owned, totaling $747,622, that exactly matched consulting fees claimed as tax deductions by the Trump Organization for hotel projects in Hawaii and Vancouver, British Columbia.
“This is just the latest fishing expedition in an ongoing attempt to harass the company,” Trump Organization general counsel Alan Garten told the newspaper. “Everything was done in strict compliance with applicable law and under the advice of counsel and tax experts.”
In July, Trump lost a landmark Supreme Court case, that 7–2 decision ruled New York state prosecutors could move forward with attempts to access the president’s full tax records as part of criminal investigations.
