Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr. does not currently plan to charge former President Donald Trump or the Trump Organization as part of Vance's office probe into "hush money" and real estate manipulations, Politico reports one of Trump's attorneys as saying.
Ronald Fischetti told Politico that he asked Vance's office last week about details of the charges it may file.
But Fischetti said that Vance's team did say they were looking at filing charges against the Trump Organization and some of its employees over alleged failure to pay taxes on corporate benefits and perks, according to Politico. According to previous reports, those perks look to involve only a few executives and include cars and apartments.
"We asked, 'Is there anything else?'" Fischetti said. "They said, 'No.'"
"It’s crazy that that's all they had," Fischetti said.
Politico asked Fischetti if the meeting with Vance's lawyers delved into allegations made by former Trump lawyer Michael Cohen and the adult film star who claims to have received "hush money" on Trump's behalf, Stormy Daniels. Fischetti said, "Nothing. Not a word on that."
Trump's lawyer added that Vance's team added that they have no plans to bring any charges against the former president himself when the first indictment is made public.
"They just said, 'When this indictment comes down, he won't be charged. Our investigation is ongoing,'" Fischetti said.
A spokesperson for Vance’s office declined to comment for Politico's article.
Any criminal charges would be the first in Vance's probe into Trump and his business dealings.
Legal experts have said an indictment against the Trump Organization could bankrupt the company by undermining its relationships with banks and other business partners.
Vance's office has said it was investigating "possibly extensive and protracted criminal conduct" at the Trump Organization, including tax and insurance fraud and falsification of business records.
It is possible that no charges will be brought.
Vance's probe nevertheless could complicate any return to politics by Trump, who has lost some of his ability to communicate publicly after being permanently banned from Twitter and suspended for two years by Facebook.
Court filings and records subpoenaed in the investigation show that chief financial officer, Allen Weisselberg and his son Barry have received corporate perks and gifts worth tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars in their years associated with the Trump Organization.
If they failed to account properly for that money on tax returns and other financial filings, they could be in legal jeopardy, legal experts have said.
New York State Attorney General Letitia James' office has been investigating whether the Trump Organization inflated the values of some properties to obtain better terms on loans, and lowered their values to obtain property tax breaks.
Vance and James are both Democrats.
Information from Reuters contributed to this report.
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