Manhattan DA expands criminal investigation into Trump Organization finances to include family compound in Westchester County
By Kara Scannell
Updated 4:48 PM ET, Fri January 15, 2021
The Manhattan district attorney's office has expanded its criminal investigation into the Trump Organization's finances to include the family's compound in Westchester County, according to lawyers and people familiar with the investigation.
Prosecutors' interest in the 212-acre property called Seven Springs is a significant widening of an investigation that began more than a year ago. It also draws closer to President Donald Trump's son Eric Trump, executive vice president of the Trump Organization, who was directly involved in discussions about the property now under scrutiny, according to court filings.
Prosecutors sent grand jury subpoenas within the past two months to town officials seeking documents and communications that officials had with the Trump Organization relating to development plans it considered for the sprawling family property.
Roland Baroni, a lawyer for the town of North Castle, New York -- one of three municipalities that the property straddles -- confirmed the town received a subpoena "asking for the planning board files, any correspondence, any email" exchanged between the town and the Trump Organization. He told CNN that the town complied with the request and that prosecutors have not sought to interview any officials.
The Trump Organization has also been subpoenaed for information related to the property and tax deductions it took after donating a conservation easement to a public trust, according to people familiar with the investigation.
The criminal investigation poses a significant threat to Trump, his business and his family as he leaves the White House next week and will no longer have the shield of the presidency to delay or postpone lawsuits and investigations.
The President personally signed the conservation easement in his thick Sharpie marker, according to documents CNN obtained through a public records request.
The Seven Springs property is also part of a civil investigation conducted by the New York attorney general's office, which has said it is looking into whether the Trump Organization "improperly inflated" the value of the Seven Springs estate.
The Trump Organization acquired the property in 1995 for $7.5 million. It was once owned by the father of Katharine Graham, the former publisher of the Washington Post.
more:
http://www.cnn.com/2021/01/15/politics/manhattan-da-trump-organization-family-compound-westchester/index.html
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