Trump Organization could soon face criminal charges, lawyer says
25 June 2021
A lawyer for the Trump Organization said Friday that expects Manhattan prosecutors to bring criminal charges against the company as soon as next week, NBC News reports.
Why it matters: The charges are part of the Manhattan district attorney's office investigation into former President Trump's business dealings, such as benefits provided to the company's top executives.
State of play: Prosecutors have focused on the tens of thousands of dollars handed to executives like Allen Weisselberg, including rents on apartments and car leases, per the New York Times. At issue is whether the company properly recorded the benefits and paid taxes on them.
- Attorneys for the company met with prosecutors on Thursday to discuss the case, according to Trump Organization attorney Ron Fischetti.
- Fischetti told NBC News the corporate office will plead not guilty and move to dismiss the case, calling the charges "completely outrageous."
"Any indictment would be the first to emerge from the long-running investigation and would raise the startling prospect of a former president having to defend the company he founded, and has run for decades, against accusations of criminal behavior," the Times writes.
Of note: A grand jury was recently convened to consider evidence and New York Attorney General Letitia James said she assigned lawyers to work with Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance on the criminal probe while she continues a civil investigation of Trump.
Transcripts show George Floyd told police "I can't breathe" over 20 times
Section2Newly released transcripts of bodycam footage from the Minneapolis Police Department show that George Floyd told officers he could not breathe more than 20 times in the moments leading up to his death.
Why it matters: Floyd's killing sparked a national wave of Black Lives Matter protests and an ongoing reckoning over systemic racism in the United States. The transcripts "offer one the most thorough and dramatic accounts" before Floyd's death, The New York Times writes.
The state of play: The transcripts were released as former officer Thomas Lane seeks to have the charges that he aided in Floyd's death thrown out in court, per the Times. He is one of four officers who have been charged.
- The filings also include a 60-page transcript of an interview with Lane. He said he "felt maybe that something was going on" when asked if he believed that Floyd was having a medical emergency at the time.
What the transcripts say:
- Floyd told the officers he was claustrophobic as they tried to get him into the squad car.
- The transcripts also show Floyd saying, "Momma, I love you. Tell my kids I love them. I'm dead."
- Former officer Derek Chauvin, who had his knee on Floyd's neck for over eight minutes, told Floyd, "Then stop talking, stop yelling, it takes a heck of a lot of oxygen to talk."
Read the transcripts via DocumentCloud.