Accountant faces pressure to turn on Trump in criminal probe

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

(Reuters) - When lawyers asked Donald Trump more than a decade ago to identify who estimated values on some of his signature properties, he shrugged and pointed to his longtime accountant, Allen Weisselberg.

“I think ultimately probably Mr. Weisselberg,” he said, testifying in 2007 in a defamation lawsuit he brought against a journalist, a case that hinged on whether Trump had inflated the value of his business empire. “I never got too much involved, other than I would give my opinion.”

-snip-

Few people have been as deeply involved in Trump’s finances as Weisselberg, a trusted figure in Trump’s family business who began working for Trump’s father, Fred, in 1973 at the company’s Brooklyn office, paying bills and tracking the rental payments from apartment towers.

Legal experts and a source familiar with the criminal investigation say prosecutors’ apparent goal is to convince Weisselberg to cooperate with the probe into Trump’s dealings.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/accountant-faces-pressure-turn-trump-165346952.html

[sop]

1. Trump will throw Weisselberg under the bus, claim he didn't even know his own accountant that

Well, and had absolutely nothing to do with his own company's financial decisions.

[LastDemocratInSC]

6. Trump still must have signed the documents.

[sop]

7. Michael Cohen learned the hard way about documents signed by Trump.

Even though Cohen displayed checks signed personally by Trump during his Congressional testimony, as reimbursement for the hush money payments he authorized to Stormy Daniels, Trump still denied knowing what the checks he signed were for.

(AP, April 5, 2018) "President Donald Trump said Thursday he didn’t know about the $130,000 payment his personal attorney made to Stormy Daniels, issuing a firm denial in his first public comments about the adult-film actress who alleges she had an affair with him.

"Asked aboard Air Force One whether he knew about the payment, Trump said flatly: 'No.'
Trump also said he didn’t know why his longtime lawyer, Michael Cohen, made the payment.
'You’ll have to ask Michael Cohen. Michael is my attorney. You’ll have to ask Michael,' he said. He added that he didn’t know where Cohen had gotten the money."

Like every smart mob boss, Trump always shields himself from direct liability, using patsies like Weisselberg to take the fall.

[Hugh_Lebowski]

2. Never got too involved, except to 'give my opinion'?

When you're the boss of someone, giving your employee your 'opinion' ... IS GETTING INVOLVED.

Kinda like if your 'opinion' ... is that someone should rid you of a meddlesome priest.

[OnDoutside]

3. Weisselberg is a weasel, and I would be surprised if he turned Trump in.

[SWBTATTReg]

4. Disappointing but not surprised. As an accountant (not a CPA, my mom was), being truthful and

honest is the epitome of this profession. I'm disappointed but not surprised, now that I've been in the 'real world' after graduating. Not everyone is honest, forthright, and trust worthy. One of the biggest disappointments of my adult life, that others in the human race are scumbags. Not all are there to help one's fellow person.

[Hekate]

5. Weisselberg could face a long prison sentence for his part in Trump's business....

If the prosecutors frame this appropriately, a plea deal might start to look like his best option.