Trump companies would be indicted for tax offenses 0:52
(CNN) -
Donald Trump has long evaded the consequences of his questionable business ethics and his personal and political scandals.
But the accusations of the investigative jury against his company and a top executive will put the lucky life of the former president to the test like never before.
The charges, which are expected to be released Thursday, are related to alleged tax offenses on perks and benefits granted to employees, including free house rentals, car leases and bonuses, people familiar with the matter told CNN.
The accusations target the Trump Organization and Trump's chief financial officer and right-hand man, Allen Weisselberg.
Although the former president is not expected to be charged, according to his lawyer, pointing to the firm in which he built his legend of the "art of negotiation" is a personal blow that is already drawing his ire.
The charges are the first to emerge from an investigation of Trump and his dealings by Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance that has raged over more than two years.
He has looked at questions including whether Trump inflated the value of his assets and properties for insurance purposes, but undervalued them when calculating his tax liabilities.
The significant legal escalation is sure to have broader political consequences as well, as Trump seeks to relaunch his political career after his defeat to President Joe Biden and hints at another run in the White House in 2024.
A Manhattan investigative jury indicts the Trump Organization and its chief financial officer Allen Weisselberg, sources say
This will offer the former president a dubious route to spending more time in the spotlight he craves, fuels new claims that he is the innocent victim of the establishment's witch hunt, and prolongs the already acrimonious national reckoning over a of the most divisive presidencies in history.
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You are capitalizing the charges for political gain, even before they are revealed.
"They will do anything to stop the MAGA movement (and me), even if it involves misconduct by the Prosecutor's Office and harassment of a political opponent, which they are using at levels rarely seen before," Trump said in an incandescent statement Monday.
"They filter, lie and campaign based on information that has already been analyzed in the many other investigations that I have endured," Trump said, characteristically manipulating the moments when he is held accountable to fuel the sense of personal injury that share with your followers.
CNN legal analyst Elie Honig said the expected release of the charges Thursday represents a "good / bad news" situation for the former president.
“The bad news is that your company is about to be charged, the company that bears your name.
That means they are going to have a long, expensive and difficult legal battle and if they are convicted, that means they could have to pay significant fines, restitution, it could even spell the end of the Trump Organization.
“The good news if you are Donald Trump is that you will not go to jail on a Trump Organization indictment.
No person can go to jail on a corporation indictment, ”Honig told CNN's Poppy Harlow on Wednesday.
The stakes for prosecutors in what would otherwise be a little-known white-collar case is also huge, as they are evaluating a company owned by a billionaire former president who is the effective leader of the Republican Party.
Politically motivated claims will be further exacerbated if these charges are the only ones resulting from the investigation.
ANALYSIS |
Trump's false reality is being exposed on multiple fronts
Evade responsibility
The showdown between the Trump Organization and prosecutors will mark another tumultuous drama of bankruptcies, high-profile divorces and abuses of power in the former president's life that led to two political trials. By smashing the truth and refusing to allow his trade setbacks to derail his frequent comebacks, Trump, with the help of ruthless legal strategies, has built a reputation as the last survivor.
His support among Republican lawmakers has allowed him to evade responsibility for breaking political norms while in office, including trying to get Ukraine to interfere in the 2020 election to harm Biden. But the legal system brings a different level of responsibility. If Trump's company, over which he once wielded absolute power, is proven guilty of tax crimes, the former president will not enjoy the kind of impunity guaranteed for his political transgressions by his mystical control over Republican voters.
The accusations will come as Trump faces scrutiny on multiple fronts. His lies about electoral fraud last November are continually undermined by new evidence. And the House of Representatives voted Wednesday to form a select commission to investigate his incitement to the Jan.6 attack on the United States Capitol. The move comes after Senate Republicans killed an attempt to establish an independent bipartisan commission to investigate the insurrection. The commission hearings are likely to refresh the public memory of the mob's assault on Capitol Hill and Trump's broader attack on democracy, just as he heads into the midterm election campaign.
Trump's big lie about 2020 results suffers legal and political blows in key states
Trump's 'eyes and ears'
The indictment will put even more pressure on Weisselberg, who once described himself as Trump's "eyes and ears" at the firm, to cooperate with prosecutors and establish a fateful test of his loyalty to the former president.
Weisselberg's lawyers have told prosecutors that he will not cooperate and is expected to plead guilty.
Although he has a reputation for knowing all the secrets of the Trump Organization, so far there is no public evidence of wrongdoing that could implicate the former president.
But Weisselberg's knowledge of nearly every aspect of the former president's finances could provide a valuable resource for prosecutors.
His relationship with Trump dates back decades and he served as treasurer for Trump's charity.
He helped prepare Trump's tax returns and is the only non-family member serving as trustee who holds the president's interest in his own companies.
The Vance investigation has been joined by New York State Attorney General Letitia James, who, like Vance, is a Democrat, prompting furious claims by Trump that he is being hunted by officials from the "radical left." .
Investigations are ongoing and this week's events do not preclude future charges against other members of the Trump Organization hierarchy.
But it is also possible that no further charges will be brought and that prosecutors will not have enough evidence to charge the former president, even if they wish to.
Weisselberg is expected to turn himself in to prosecutors Thursday morning, two sources with knowledge of the situation told CNN.
The dramatic development came after lawyers for the Trump Organization took time this week to try to persuade prosecutors not to press charges in the case.
Mary Mulligan, Weisselberg's attorney, declined to comment.
A spokesperson for Vance also declined to comment.
Attorneys for the Trump Organization did not respond to a request for comment.
But the details of the allegations against Weisselberg and the Trump Organization may begin to answer some of the questions about the breadth of this investigation and how much it threatens Trump.
CNN's Kara Scannell, Erica Orden and Sonia Moghe contributed to this story.
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