Legal AF by MeidasTouch - Trump Executive gets Final Warning from Manhattan Prosecutors

Episode Date: May 22, 2023

Michael Popok of Legal AF reports on the Manhattan DA’s new pressure campaign against disgraced, jailed, felon and former Trump Chief Operating Officer Allen Weisselberg using a threat of a perjury criminal indictment to get him to cooperate against Trump for a loan, insurance and tax fraud criminal prosecution. SUPPORT THE SHOW: Shop LEGAL AF Merch at: https://store.meidastouch.com Join us on Patreon: https://patreon.com/meidastouch Remember to subscribe to ALL the Meidas Media Podcasts: MeidasTouch: https://pod.link/1510240831 Legal AF: https://pod.link/1580828595 The PoliticsGirl Podcast: https://pod.link/1595408601 The Influence Continuum: https://pod.link/1603773245 Kremlin File: https://pod.link/1575837599 Mea Culpa with Michael Cohen: https://pod.link/1530639447 The Weekend Show: https://pod.link/1612691018 The Tony Michaels Podcast: https://pod.link/1561049560 American Psyop: https://pod.link/1652143101 Burn the Boats: https://pod.link/1485464343 Majority 54: https://pod.link/1309354521 Political Beatdown: https://pod.link/1669634407 Lights On with Jessica Denson: https://pod.link/1676844320 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Does Michael Popock, legal AF, Alvin Bragg, Manhattan DA is not done with Alan Weiselberg, the disgraced, felon, five and a half month jailed former CFO, chief financial officer for the Trump organization dating back 50 years. If anybody knows where all the bodies are buried, all the books are cooked at the Trump organization with Donald Trump, it's Alan Weiselberg. And there's a two-year pressure campaign that's coming to a head by the Manhattan D.A.'s office to get Alan Weiselberg to testify and flip on Donald Trump.

It hasn't worked so far. He was willing Alan Weiselberg to go into jail at Ryker's Island for five and a half months to cover for his boss, although he did give testimony, which was favorable to the prosecution against the Trump organization entities that resulted in a 17 count felony conviction by a jury in Manhattan

of the Trump organization entities related to tax fraud. What how does how does Alvin Bragg get Alan Weiselberg to testify now finally about the broader case against Trump related to loan fraud, tax fraud, insurance fraud, perjury. There is, there is new reporting that Alan Weissselberg in giving an interview to the New York Attorney General, Latisha James's office. Remember, she's got a $250 million civil fraud case against Trump, Alan Weisselberg, Ivanka, the other kids and the Trump organization that is in New York State Supreme Court going to trial in October that he gave an interview a year or two years ago to Latisha James's office and that Alan Weisselberg during that interview lied and that they

know they can prove intentional, willful false statement under oath to the New York Attorney General. That's a crime. That's a criminal perjury crime. And listen, as late as February a March of this year, we reported on the Midas Touch Network and on legal AF, the podcast that I co-anchor on Wednesdays and Saturdays. We already reported that Alan Weisselberg's then lawyers, because he's now replaced them, but his then lawyers, Nick Ravanti was given a presentation by the New York, by the Manhattan DA, laying out new potential crimes against his client that he was subject to.

Now, what's happened since then? Nick Ravanti got fired by Alan Weisselberg. There's a lot of pressure and a lot of tension between Alan Weisselberg who's trying to save his skin and not go to jail for the rest of his life. He's in his late 70s and of ill health. And the Trump organization lawyers led by Susan Neckless because they didn't like the fact

that Alan Weisselberg sat with the prosecutors to prepare his testimony and cooperated in other ways against the Trump organization. And they didn't like the fact that Nick Ravanti brokered that deal in order to get his client as less amount of jail time as possible. Nick Ravanti brokered that deal in order to get as client as less amount of jail time as possible. Nick Ravanti's gone and he's been replaced so far.

The new lawyer that's been brought in is Seth Rosenberg at Claiming Rosenberg in New York. What's there claim to fame? Well, they're well known white collar criminal defense firm in Manhattan. One of Rosenberg's partners successfully represented Matt Gaetz and getting him out from under the sex trafficking crimes. So that's that law firm.

That's the new law firm for Alan Weiselberg that is interfacing with the Manhattan DA. But the reporting now is the Manhattan DA is playing hardball. They're tired after two years of not getting any of the insiders to flip in their favor to go after Donald Trump for the bigger case of loan fraud and tax fraud and they're focused again on a pressure campaign on Alan Weisselberg using potential perjury charges against him

to get him to cooperate. Look, this guy doesn't want to go back to jail. When he was on the stand during the Trump organization, criminal trial, he said that it was that they asked if he was embarrassed to be testifying about the tax fraud that he committed, you know, the apartments and school tuition for his grandchildren and taxis and apartments, car rentals and all that, that he didn't pay taxes on, that nobody paid taxes on, it was all under the table. They asked him if he was embarrassed if he testified about all that. And he said, more than you will ever know, right? And then he went off to Reikers Island in an orange jumpsuit for five and a half months.

This guy doesn't want to go back to jail. And despite the fact that the Trump organization threw him a birthday party before he went into Rikers Island and it's signaling to him, we'll take care of you, you know, like any good mobster, you know, mafia-type family. They'll take care of him if he testifies in their favor. And this is like Godfather too, or Godfather one. Otherwise, it's got to make his own deal.

Unless he wants to die in prison, never see his grandchildren and family again. He's going to have to play ball with the Manhattan DA's office. And they'll finally get what they've been looking for from almost day one of Alvin Bragg's tenure as Manhattan DA, a cooperating witness who doesn't have some of the other baggage that somebody like Michael Cohen has. Now Michael Cohen's already testified in the Manhattan DA's office knows that there's

no financial dealings, no money flow, no payments made in that organization that Alan Weisselberg didn't know about in a proof. All money ran from Trump through Weisselberg out the door. And all money was accounted for on the books and records of the Trump organization through Alan Weisselberg. So he is obviously a key witness. He was involved with stormy Daniels in the hush money payment and how that payment for $130,000 was repaid to Michael Cohen up to $400,000 in terms of a bonus.

That was paid through Alan Weiselberg, how that was recorded on the books and records, which is the heart of the criminal case against Donald Trump right now. The 34th count felony indictment against him is books and records entries approved by Alan Weiselberg. The whole case at the civil side brought by Latisha James, the New York Attorney General for 250 million pending in front of Judge Engoron, that's going to trial in October, all of those financial dealings, the interactions with the banks to tell them how much the properties were worth the Donald Trump was trying to take loans and refinancing out on the appraisal issue.

Fake appraisals being used that weren't independent. The lies that were told to the insurance companies about property value, the deflation of property value of the Trump world in order to save on taxes after they've inflated the loan value in order to get loans and to have those loans insured as required by the lenders. All that ran through the toll road of Alan Weiselberg. I can't, I can't stress enough or emphasize enough the importance of Alan Weiselberg to any future prosecution of Donald Trump by the Manhattan D.A.'s office. They can sort of do it without him, but it is so much easier and so much more guaranteed of a success if they've got alawaisal burr cooperating. And so the pressure continues on alawaisal burr. Now facing down the barrel of perjury charges because he gave

a statement to the New York Attorney General. We don't know what the statement was, but we know what the New York Attorney General is looking at. Insurance fraud, insurance misrepresentations, uh, misrepresentations about loan value. That's got to be what Alan Weisselberg perjured himself on, at least from the Manhattan DA's office. We know from other reporting that he lied to Zurich insurance.

When Zurich insurance was, which was going to ensure the property, I don't know if it was 40 Wall Street or one of the other Trump, Trump name buildings, but they asked them point blank, is this an independent appraisal for the value that you need us to ensure? Because the lenders require insurance up to the value of the loan. In order to make the loan, right, they want the property fully insured. In case something happens to it. So he lied to Zurich insurance.

Ivanka is involved in this and said, yeah, independent appraisal. And I'm sure he kept that lie going when he met with Latisha James. That's my view putting the pieces together of what that perjury charge could look like. That I'm sure has been presented to Seth Rosenberg, the new lawyer for Alan Weiselberg. And they have to consider whether they want to cut a deal, take a plea deal on the perjury and return for cooperating and a recommendation by the Manhattan DA that he won't serve any more jail time. Because if he doesn't do it, they're going to go after him again, and they're going to try him again at the same time as a coordinated effort because everything Manhattan DA is coordinated

with Latisha James' New York Attorney General Office. They have lawyers that work who are deputized in both investigations, criminal and civil, they work hand in glove together. And at the same time that there's a pressure campaign by the Manhattan DA, what is Latisha James' office, New York Attorney General doing? She's asking the court to permit her to take a deposition of Alan Weiselberg. She asked last week Judge Engoron, if she could have the permission to take Alan Weiselberg. She asked last week, Judge Engoron, if she could have the permission

to take Alan Weiselberg's deposition because Discovery Period, the period of information exchange, is almost over for that trial in October, so she had to get permission of the court. And she said, well, the good news is, Judge, Alan Weiselberg's just coming out of jail. He was in jail for five and a half months. We couldn't depose him. It's very difficult to take a deposition

at Rikers Island. We'd like to do it now. If he's sitting in that chair with her with this now new claim of perjury, he's going to have to take the fifth amendment against self incrimination. He can't take it about things he's already pled guilty and served his time because those things aren't going to be prosecuted. But if he thinks there's a federal and or state criminal prosecution and he's been told there's going to be one, I believe, on perjury, he's going to take the fifth and leticia james in the civil side is going to be able to use that against him because if you take the fifth amendment in a civil setting, the jury is given an instruction to make what's called an adverse inference.

If you hear a witness, say, fifth amendment in the civil side, ladies and gentlemen of the jury, you are to add to make an adverse inference about the answer to that question. So if you asked Alan Weissselberg, did you commit insurance fraud with Zurich insurance? I take the Fifth Amendment against self-incrimination, the jury can conclude that he committed insurance fraud against the Zurich insurance. And that's what's going to happen. And he knows it. And so to put in between a rock and a hard place or between a Manhattan DA and a New York

Attorney General place, Latisha James is trying to sit him down, Alan Weisselberg for a deposition, make him take that fifth amendment so that she gets the byproduct benefit of it in her civil case, while Alan Weisselberg uses it to his advantage to try to get a flip of Alan Weisselberg against Donald Trump. That's where we're at.

Those are the moving pieces. I cover it in hot takes just like this one about every day only on the Midas Touch network. And then we curate these hot takes and the best stories of the week. And we do two shows called the legal AF, which sits at the intersection of law and politics. I do a Wednesday show with Karen Friedman, Ignifalo, former top prosecutor for the Manhattan D.A.'s office. And on the weekend's show Saturdays with the founder of Midas Touch

and a civil rights lawyer in his own right band, Macellus. Watch our show there. If you like what I'm doing here, give me a thumbs up on the YouTube. Leave a comment. I'll take a look. And you can follow me, Michael Popok, on all things social media at MS Popok.

This is Michael Popok, legal AF reporting. Lock him up. In Dightman Season is upon us. Celebrate with the new indictment season, t-shirt and v-neck exclusively at store.mitustouch.com. you