More indictments expected in Trump Org tax case as judge plans summer 2022 trial
- A lawyer for Trump Organization Chief Financial Officer Allen Weisselberg told a judge more indictments are expected in the criminal tax-fraud case against him and former President Donald Trump's company.
- That judge said he anticipates a trial taking place in late summer 2022.
- The indictment details what prosecutors called a "sweeping and audacious" scheme to avoid taxes on compensation for executives.
A lawyer for Trump Organization Chief Financial Officer Allen Weisselberg told a judge Monday that more indictments are expected in the criminal tax-fraud case against former President Donald Trump's company and its longtime executive.
That judge said he anticipates a trial taking place in late August or early September of 2022.
"We have strong reason to believe there could be other indictments coming," Weisselberg attorney Bryan Skarlatos said in Manhattan Supreme Court, NBC News reported.
Weisselberg's attorneys told Judge Juan Merchan that they have been swamped by the millions of documents handed over to them from the Manhattan District Attorney's office and pleaded for more time before the court schedules motion or trial dates, NBC News reported.
"There could be more indictments coming, Judge, what's the rush," Skarlatos, argued in the hearing in Manhattan Supreme Court, according to NBC.
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The status conference marked the second appearance in court for Weisselberg, 74, since being charged in the 15-count indictment, which details what prosecutors called a "sweeping and audacious" scheme to avoid taxes on compensation for executives.
In all, Weisselberg alone received about $1.76 million worth of "indirect compensation," the indictment said.
The Trump Organization, Trump Payroll and Weisselberg, who has worked for the former president and his family for more than four decades, in July pleaded not guilty to the charges, which do not include Trump himself.
"We have studied the indictment and it is full of unsupported and flawed factual and legal assertions regarding Allen Weisselberg. We look forward to challenging those assertions in court," Weisselberg attorneys Skarlatos and Mary Mulligan said in a statement to NBC.
In court Monday morning, Weisselberg's lawyers told Merchan they have received roughly six million pages of materials as part of the evidence-gathering phase of the case, a deluge that forces them to review 30,000 pages a day, seven days a week, NBC reported.
A prosecutor countered that Weisselberg "is no stranger to these documents, he has been with the Trump Org for 35 years," according to NBC.
— CNBC's Dan Mangan contributed to this report.
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