Former acting U.S. Attorney General Matthew Whitaker says liberal cities are ignoring the problems on their front door like crime and instead going after former President Donald Trump.
"This is a very rare criminal prosecution to go after the company to try to tag it," Whitaker said Wednesday during an appearance on Newsmax's "The Chris Salcedo Show" about Trump's company being convicted of tax fraud.
The guilty verdict came Tuesday on the second day of deliberations following a trial in which the Trump Organization was accused of being complicit in a scheme by top executives to avoid paying personal income taxes on job perks such as rent-free apartments and luxury cars.
Trump, who recently announced he was running for president again, has said the case against his company was part of a politically motivated "witch hunt" waged against him by vindictive Democrats.
"I think this is just an elected politician doing the bidding of a very liberal city trying to get Trump," Whitaker said.
"The former president is absolutely right when he talks about all the things that they're investing their time in, and it's this case instead of trying to make people's lives in New York City safer and more prosperous."
The case against the company was built largely around testimony from the Trump Organization's former finance chief, Allen Weisselberg, who previously pleaded guilty to charges that he manipulated the company's books and his own compensation package to illegally reduce his taxes.
Weisselberg testified in exchange for a promised five-month jail sentence.
Whitaker said it's rare to see state criminal tax cases.
"This is a discretionary choice by a very liberal, anti-Trump prosecutor to make an example of Donald Trump. And I am surprised not only that this is where they would invest their results, but I'm not surprised by the income because a jury in New York City is going to be very left-leaning and against former President Trump where he surely can't get a fair trial."
Information from the Associated Press was used in this report.
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Solange Reyner ✉
Solange Reyner is a writer and editor for Newsmax. She has more than 15 years in the journalism industry reporting and covering news, sports and politics.
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