Allen Weisselberg Immunity Deal Shows Prosecutors Are Going After Trump Family, Not Trump Organization

(Amanda Rivkin/AFP/Getty Images)

Allen Weisselberg is allegedly the “money man” in the Trump organization. Checks do not get written by the Trump organization without Weisselberg’s say so. Today, the Wall Street Journal reports that some time ago, Weisselberg received immunity in exchange for cooperating with the investigation into Michael Cohen.

It’s interesting that Weisselberg received immunity. By getting immunity, Weisselberg gives up his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination. Once he agreed to cooperate, it’s natural that Weisselberg would ask for immunity. Even if he’s not guilty of anything, witnesses are wise to get immunity before speaking with prosecutors in any capacity, if it is offered. The mainstream press has a habit of impugning guilt simply because a person protects himself from prosecution, and we should not do that here.

But… the fact that prosecutors were offering immunity suggests that their focus isn’t really on the Trump Organization. Given what we’ve been told about Weisselberg’s status within the Trump Organization, all doors should lead to him in terms of any organizational illegality. If you want to go after the structure, Weisselberg is one of the men you want to get. Why give him immunity, especially if it’s just to help catch a relatively low-level functionary like Michael Cohen? Cohen was going down anyway, you didn’t need the “financial gatekeeper of the Trump Organization” to make Cohen fall.

I read this deal as an indication that prosecutors are focused on Trump personally, and his family. If you want the Trump kids, Weisselberg is key. It’s been reported that Weisselberg knew more about Trump’s businesses than Trump’s own children. The fact that Weisselberg can now be compelled to testify bodes ill for Don Jr., Ivanka, and Eric. (Unlike President Trump, I’m not forgetting Tiffany, I’m just giving her the benefit of the doubt she seems to deserve.)

It’s possible, even likely, that Weisselberg restricted his cooperation to Cohen and kept the kids out of it. But, now that Cohen has essentially flipped, it’s not hard to see how the Cohen guilty plea will quickly spread to an investigation into his children. New York Attorney General Barbara Underwood has already asked permission to go after Trump charities in a criminal case, and that lays squarely at the feet of the Trump family.

If it feels like everything is unraveling for Trump… it is. Legally, it is.

Politically… I’m sure Mitch McConnell and Paul Ryan have nothing to say about recent developments.

Allen Weisselberg, Longtime Trump Organization CFO, Is Granted Immunity in Cohen Probe [Wall Street Journal]

---

Elie Mystal is the Executive Editor of Above the Law and the Legal Editor for More Perfect. He can be reached @ElieNYC on Twitter, or at elie@abovethelaw.com. He will resist.

Allen Weisselberg Immunity Deal Shows Prosecutors Are Going After Trump Family, Not Trump Organization curated from Above the Law