In a 129-page court filing on Monday, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg told the judge handling the case involving Donald Trump's family business that he should move forward. He's also ready to file felony charges against former Trump Organization chief financial officer, Allen Weisselberg.
“This case, at its core, is ordinary,” wrote Assistant District Attorney Solomon Shinerock quoted the New York Daily News. “It arises from the fact that Allen Weisselberg violated the basic imperative that all New Yorkers faithfully report and pay tax on their income.”
In Feb. 2022 there was a motion filed by the Trump Org. to have the charges dismissed, and until now the prosecutors haven't responded. The allegations are that both dodged income taxes on more than $1.7 million for over 15 years as well as other crimes.
Michael Cohen, a former Trump lawyer, has spoken with the DA and provided documents, he tweeted earlier this year many times publicly.
READ: Trump baffled Kellyanne Conway with an offer after losing the 2020 election
Weisselberg's lawyers allege that all of the information that they're basing their facts on come from lies by Cohen told federal investigators. But Bragg's office explained none of the prosecutors had ever "seen or been briefed on the contents of Weisselberg’s testimony" against Cohen to the feds.
“Indeed, the claim that (Cohen) sparked this Investigation as part of a vendetta resulting from Weisselberg’s immunized testimony is incorrect,” the filing states. “And, regardless of (Cohen’s) feelings towards Weisselberg ... the Investigation that led to this Indictment, and the information used to obtain that Indictment, are the result of sources completely independent of (Cohen).”
“Weisselberg fails and fails miserably in his vengeful witness defense in the fact that I never testified before the grand jury against him," said Cohen in a statement to Raw Story. "Mr. Shinerock’s opposition papers clearly demonstrate that the Trump methodology of lying and blaming others only works for Trump; all others get jail time."
“This might be the right time for Weisselberg to think about cooperating," he added.
Bragg, who made it clear that he hasn't looked into whatever Cohen did or did not say to the federal government. There have been a number of people who came forward and spoke to the district attorney's office prior to Bragg taking over. One of those is Weisselberg's former daughter-in-law, who revealed that she handed over a lot of information to the DA as well.