Trump could go down on tax fraud charges: Watergate prosecutor
The indictment of former President Donald Trump over allegations of a hush money payment to adult film star Stormy Daniels could go beyond misdemeanor book-cooking or a possible campaign finance issue, argued former assistant special Watergate prosecutor Nick Akerman on CNN Monday — the case could also involve tax fraud.
"You tweeted that, quote, 'If former President Richard Nixon had been held accountable for his actions arising out of the Watergate investigation, no one now would be saying an indictment of Trump is unprecedented,'" said anchor Jake Tapper. "Given what we know about these allegations of business fraud against Trump, presuming that our understanding of the case, that it is the combination of the business fraud with the alleged campaign finance violations, do you think this particular indictment is as serious as what Nixon might have faced before Gerald Ford pardoned him?"
"Well, one of the things that Richard Nixon was facing prior to pardon was being indicted for tax violations," said Akerman. "And in fact, this indictment could also hinge on tax violations."
"Everybody keeps saying campaign violations, but the fact of the matter is when you create phony business records that claimed that there were legitimate attorney's fees being paid, and deducted on the company's books and records, that then land up on a New York State tax return, we're talking tax fraud," Akerman continued.
"It's not much different than what Nixon did in donating his papers to the Archives after and using a backdated deed to get a deduction that was totally illegitimate."
This possibility, Akerman said, underscores the fact that despite a lot of confident media speculation on all sides, "we don't really know what the full scope of the allegations are here."
"You mentioned before that we have an idea of the list of grand jury witnesses," said Akerman. "We do only as the people who personally appeared. Keep in mind that this was a joint investigation between the D.A.'s office and the attorney general's office, and there were a number of people who testified in depositions whose testimony could simply be read to the grand jury without having to appear personally.
"All of that leads me to believe we just don't know what this indictment is going to allege, particularly in light of the fact that Donald Trump asserted his Fifth Amendment privilege in response to 450 questions, claiming that a truthful answer would tend to incriminate him. It's hard to believe that the district attorney's office doesn't have enough evidence, and some of those crimes ought to put into this indictment."
Trump is expected to be arraigned on more than 30 charges Tuesday. It's not yet known what they are.
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