Allen Weisselberg lawyer Bryan Skarlatos has told a judge that he suspects that new indictments may be in the pipeline in the New York prosecutor’s investigation into his business dealings.
“We have strong reason to believe there could be other indictments coming,” Skarlatos said, speaking on Monday in a pre-trial hearing before the New York State Supreme Court.
Skarlatos appeared in court alongside Weisselberg, the former Trump CFO who is facing 15 criminal counts, including grand larceny, as part of an alleged “sweeping and audacious” 15-year tax evasion scheme going back to the year 2005 which allegedly saw the official collect some $1.7 million in untaxed income in the form of perks such as luxury cars, private school tuition, and rent.
The former CFO’s lawyer asked the judge to provide the defence with more time to prepare its case, indicating that it is still reviewing millions of pages of documents.
In Monday’s hearing, Skarlatos emphasised that his client was “separate from the Trump Organization” and was “the only individual here whose liberty is at stake.”
Weisselberg’s former employer, the Trump Organization, formally terminated him as chief financial officer in mid-July.
The lawyer also indicated that he was “concerned” that his client may “become collateral damage in a larger fight between the Trump Organization and the DA’s office".
Monday’s appearance in court by Weisselberg was his second since his 1 July arraignment. The 74-year-old pleaded not guilty to the charges in the earlier hearing.
Judge Juan Manuel Merchan ruled that Weisselberg will next be due in court in July 2022, by which time both sides are expected to file their motions and responses, with a trial date expected to be set for August or September next year.
Trump Cries ‘Witch Hunt’
The Trump family, including Donald Trump and his sons Don Jr. and Eric Trump, have accused District Attorney Cyrus Vance of joining other Democrats in engaging in a politically motivated “witch hunt” against the former president aimed at clipping his wings should he run again in 2024.
Vance, the son of former Jimmy Carter Secretary of State, Cyrus Vance Sr, subpoenaed eight years worth of Trump’s personal and business records in August 2019, with the records handed over to his office in February 2021 after a lengthy court battle which went to the Supreme Court.
Trump brought up the criminal investigation against his business empire on Sunday in a Telegram rant, calling Vance’s investigation a “fake ‘bulls*hit’” sideshow run by people allied to Hillary Clinton and ‘Never Trumpers’.
“Over three million pages of documents have been examined by them (a record fishing expedition!), Never Trumper lawyers and law firms are used by the DA and AG to ‘Get Trump’, in their prosecutorial misconduct Witch Hunt, anti-Trump political campaigns are viciously waged by them to get elected – and they have NOTHING! Murder and all forms of crime are ‘through the roof’ in New York, and their focus is on ‘Trump’, despite numerous other political investigations that went nowhere,” the former president grumbled.