Jay, if Bragg isn't a subscriber, please send him a copy of this. Probably he and his team have already thought about tax evasion--maybe it'll be in the charges--but no harm in a reminder. When it comes to Trump, there's nasty things under every rock. Turn 'em all over and let the sunshine do its job.
Pretty sure that like most if not all his “business” dealings, Individual 1 cooked the books. Like the grifter he is and always has been, he and his henchmen would do anything to make a buck by cheating the taxman. That’s why he hires oodles of lawyers and accountants to squirrel away his money by using every loophole, legal, semi-legal, or otherwise…
Seen in any light save Jim Jordan's jaundiced hellscape eye sockets, what you describe is deliberate fraud in the Trump tradition of lifelong commitment to deceit and dishonor. Finally the chickens come tripping in.
@jaykuo So, if Trump is convicted of a felony, can he still vote? Especially in Florida where DeSantis has been on a tear to arrest people for voting “illegally”.
I have seen mention in the media of possible tax evasion issues in the Daniels case, but none so clearly set forth. Is trump's panic because he knows that Bragg has his state tax returns? (I don't know whether Bragg does, but it seems possible.)
On the Federal Level--IS the IRS now doing the audit it ducked while trump was president? If so, they surely now know what to look for.
Jay: Very interesting analysis. As a former federal, not state, prosecutor, I have been trying to parse the false business records crime. The issue to me is that the statutory provision seems to require that at the time that you are making the false entry in the business records, you need to do so intending to further (or conceal) the other crime, here tax evasion. The problem for D.A. Bragg in charging tax evasion might be that the tax fraud is the subsequent result of the false business entry -- you make the hush money payment, falsely book it as legal expense and then, when the tax return is filed, you take it as inappropriate expense, illegally reducing your income and, thus, your taxes. The false entry -- disguising and recording them as legal fees -- is done to further and conceal the hush money payment (not a crime in and of itself) and not the subsequent tax fraud. Perhaps Cohen, with the convicted CFO Allen Weisselberg, along with Trump, discussed how this was all going to be handled from a tax perspective at the outset. If so, you would have a charge -- not only a felony false business records one, but a state tax fraud charge as well.
Really liked reading this analysis. And hope Bragg and his team really have something like this "up their sleeve", for enhanced charges against T-45! Actually sounds like a much more promising case for the Manhattan DA to pursue!
Excellent analysis. For some time I hoped that Trump would get convicted of tax evasion for “cooking the books “ and avoid taxes. This adds to the case of tax evasion/tax fraud. It fits the way that Capone got convicted and sent to federal prison. Every day I hope that will happen.
Then with his many other cronies, they all should stay in prison for a long, long time.
Great analysis. But what I wonder (sorry I can't help it), that tfg should have been caught a long time ago because he's just so stupid and his attorneys are too. I'm talking about decades ago. But who was in charge of the DA's office(s) that never, ever looked into all his and his father's shady dealings? And then the second thing I wonder (sorry again) is if he got away with it for so long and he's stupid, how many other wealthy scumbags are also getting away with it because they aren't stupid? Are our tax laws written to favor the wealthy? Because the peons like me have to pay our taxes and can't afford attorneys to come up with schemes like this.
As a hypothesis, good, logical thinking. I have to ask, if indeed this is the case. How much cooperation do you thing Bragg has had/would have had from Letitia James's office?
I also keep coming back to Mazars resigning, and suspect this case is no different than any of the others.
I have no doubt that tRump engaged in countless acts of tax fraud over his career. What seems a lifetime ago, I was an executive in the hospitality business. It was the worst kept secret that every executive in the hotel business knew he was a fraud, both as a person and in his business dealings. If only someone could audit his books -- both the fake ones and the real ones -- then there would be an easy case for tax fraud. I suppose the kicker is how to get a court to compel their release. And then there is Deutsche Bank, who, perhaps, is complicit in all of this.
So the Trump organization committed tax fraud, reducing its income and tax by claiming an illegitimate expense. But in Trump’s personal return would not his income from the Trump organization have been higher and his tax higher not lower? So to get Trump on this fraud the prosecution would have to show his culpability at the Trump organization, a difficult show.
I never understood why the fact that it was disguised as a business expense was apparently ignored, at least by the media, but my favorite part of Jay's piece, that I did not know, was that Stormy actually cost the Orange Man $420,000!
Jay, if Bragg isn't a subscriber, please send him a copy of this. Probably he and his team have already thought about tax evasion--maybe it'll be in the charges--but no harm in a reminder. When it comes to Trump, there's nasty things under every rock. Turn 'em all over and let the sunshine do its job.
Pretty sure that like most if not all his “business” dealings, Individual 1 cooked the books. Like the grifter he is and always has been, he and his henchmen would do anything to make a buck by cheating the taxman. That’s why he hires oodles of lawyers and accountants to squirrel away his money by using every loophole, legal, semi-legal, or otherwise…
Great analysis, Jay. Spot on.
Seen in any light save Jim Jordan's jaundiced hellscape eye sockets, what you describe is deliberate fraud in the Trump tradition of lifelong commitment to deceit and dishonor. Finally the chickens come tripping in.
@jaykuo So, if Trump is convicted of a felony, can he still vote? Especially in Florida where DeSantis has been on a tear to arrest people for voting “illegally”.
It’s kind of what I’ve been hoping. But he’s never been charged with it yet even tho the IRS likely could’ve. Many times!
I have seen mention in the media of possible tax evasion issues in the Daniels case, but none so clearly set forth. Is trump's panic because he knows that Bragg has his state tax returns? (I don't know whether Bragg does, but it seems possible.)
On the Federal Level--IS the IRS now doing the audit it ducked while trump was president? If so, they surely now know what to look for.
Jay: Very interesting analysis. As a former federal, not state, prosecutor, I have been trying to parse the false business records crime. The issue to me is that the statutory provision seems to require that at the time that you are making the false entry in the business records, you need to do so intending to further (or conceal) the other crime, here tax evasion. The problem for D.A. Bragg in charging tax evasion might be that the tax fraud is the subsequent result of the false business entry -- you make the hush money payment, falsely book it as legal expense and then, when the tax return is filed, you take it as inappropriate expense, illegally reducing your income and, thus, your taxes. The false entry -- disguising and recording them as legal fees -- is done to further and conceal the hush money payment (not a crime in and of itself) and not the subsequent tax fraud. Perhaps Cohen, with the convicted CFO Allen Weisselberg, along with Trump, discussed how this was all going to be handled from a tax perspective at the outset. If so, you would have a charge -- not only a felony false business records one, but a state tax fraud charge as well.
Really liked reading this analysis. And hope Bragg and his team really have something like this "up their sleeve", for enhanced charges against T-45! Actually sounds like a much more promising case for the Manhattan DA to pursue!
Thanks Jay!
Excellent analysis. For some time I hoped that Trump would get convicted of tax evasion for “cooking the books “ and avoid taxes. This adds to the case of tax evasion/tax fraud. It fits the way that Capone got convicted and sent to federal prison. Every day I hope that will happen.
Then with his many other cronies, they all should stay in prison for a long, long time.
I find this thinking...just delightful! Thank you!
Great analysis. But what I wonder (sorry I can't help it), that tfg should have been caught a long time ago because he's just so stupid and his attorneys are too. I'm talking about decades ago. But who was in charge of the DA's office(s) that never, ever looked into all his and his father's shady dealings? And then the second thing I wonder (sorry again) is if he got away with it for so long and he's stupid, how many other wealthy scumbags are also getting away with it because they aren't stupid? Are our tax laws written to favor the wealthy? Because the peons like me have to pay our taxes and can't afford attorneys to come up with schemes like this.
As a hypothesis, good, logical thinking. I have to ask, if indeed this is the case. How much cooperation do you thing Bragg has had/would have had from Letitia James's office?
I also keep coming back to Mazars resigning, and suspect this case is no different than any of the others.
I have no doubt that tRump engaged in countless acts of tax fraud over his career. What seems a lifetime ago, I was an executive in the hospitality business. It was the worst kept secret that every executive in the hotel business knew he was a fraud, both as a person and in his business dealings. If only someone could audit his books -- both the fake ones and the real ones -- then there would be an easy case for tax fraud. I suppose the kicker is how to get a court to compel their release. And then there is Deutsche Bank, who, perhaps, is complicit in all of this.
So the Trump organization committed tax fraud, reducing its income and tax by claiming an illegitimate expense. But in Trump’s personal return would not his income from the Trump organization have been higher and his tax higher not lower? So to get Trump on this fraud the prosecution would have to show his culpability at the Trump organization, a difficult show.
I never understood why the fact that it was disguised as a business expense was apparently ignored, at least by the media, but my favorite part of Jay's piece, that I did not know, was that Stormy actually cost the Orange Man $420,000!