New York’s Attorney General Joins Criminal Inquiry Into Trump Organization
The move increased the investigative muscle looking into the former president and his family business.
Danny Hakim, William K. Rashbaum and
The office of Letitia James, the New York State attorney general, has been conducting a civil investigation into Donald J. Trump and his family business. Credit...Kathy Willens/Associated Press
Donald J. Trump and his family came under increasing pressure from New York investigators after the attorney general’s office said Tuesday it was working alongside the Manhattan district attorney in an ongoing criminal fraud investigation.
The two offices have been conducting parallel investigations for more than a year, though the inquiry by the office of New York’s attorney general, Letitia James, has been a civil one, meaning it could result in a lawsuit or fines. The Manhattan district attorney, Cyrus R. Vance Jr., has been conducting a criminal investigation, which could result in charges.
The new development, first reported by CNN, was disclosed after the attorney general’s office wrote to the Trump Organization in recent days notifying it that information collected as part of the civil inquiry could now be used as part of a criminal investigation.
“We have informed the Trump Organization that our investigation into the organization is no longer purely civil in nature,” Fabien Levy, a spokesman for Ms. James, said in a statement. “We are now actively investigating the Trump Organization in a criminal capacity, along with the Manhattan D.A. We have no additional comment at this time.”
In a statement released Wednesday, Mr. Trump called the efforts an “investigation that is in desperate search of a crime.” As he has in the past, Mr. Trump, a Republican, attacked both investigations as politically motivated fishing expeditions. Mr. Vance and Ms. James are both Democrats.
“I have built a great company, employed thousands of people, and all I do is get unfairly attacked and abused by a corrupt political system,” Mr. Trump said.
The long-running criminal investigation by the Manhattan district attorney has focused on an array of potential financial crimes at the Trump Organization, including tax and bank-related fraud. In particular, the prosecutors are examining whether Mr. Trump’s company inflated the value of his properties to obtain favorable loans and lowered the values to reduce taxes.
For months, the district attorney’s office has focused on Mr. Trump’s long-serving chief financial officer, Allen Weisselberg, mounting an aggressive effort to gain his cooperation against Mr. Trump and the Trump Organization, according to people with knowledge of the matter. As part of that effort, the district attorney has subpoenaed records from Mr. Weisselberg’s bank and the private school in Manhattan that his grandchildren have attended.
It is unclear what role Ms. James’s office will play in that aspect of the investigation. In the collaboration, two assistant attorneys general from Ms. James’s office are joining the district attorney’s team, people with knowledge of the matter said.
But her office will not be conducting its own independent criminal investigation. She is continuing her civil inquiry, which focuses on some of the same strands as the district attorney’s sweeping criminal inquiry. Both offices have been investigating some of the same Trump properties, including his Seven Springs Estate in Westchester County.
As part of its inquiry, Mr. Vance’s office obtained eight years’ worth of Mr. Trump’s tax returns, among other financial records, but only after Mr. Trump aggressively fought the effort, resulting in a long-running legal battle that twice reached the U.S. Supreme Court.
A spokesman for the district attorney’s office declined to comment.
Mr. Trump is also facing a criminal investigation in Georgia, where the district attorney in Fulton County is looking into his attempts to reverse the outcome of the presidential election in the state.
Maggie Haberman contributed reporting.
Danny Hakim is an investigative reporter for the business section. He has been a European economics correspondent and bureau chief in Albany and Detroit. He was also a lead reporter on the team awarded the 2009 Pulitzer Prize for Breaking News. @dannyhakim • Facebook
William K. Rashbaum is a senior writer on the Metro desk, where he covers political and municipal corruption, courts, terrorism and broader law enforcement topics. He was a part of the team awarded the 2009 Pulitzer Prize for breaking news. @WRashbaum • Facebook
Ben Protess is an investigative reporter covering the federal government, law enforcement and various criminal investigations into former President Trump and his allies. @benprotess
