More indictments expected in Trump Org tax case as judge schedules summer 2022 trial

A lawyer for the Trump Organization’s chief financial officer, Allen Weisselberg, told a judge on Monday that more indictments were awaited in the criminal tax fraud case against the company of former President Donald Trump and his long-time leader. dated.

The judge said he is planning a trial to take place in late August or early September 2022.

“We have good reason to believe that there may be more charges ahead,” Weisselberg’s attorney Bryan Skarlatos told Manhattan Supreme Court, NBC News reported.

“What’s the rush,” Skarlatos asked Judge Juan Merchan, as he and another Weisselberg lawyer claimed they had been overwhelmed by the millions of documents handed to them by the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office .

The status conference marked the second court appearance in Weisselberg, 74, since he was indicted in the 15-count indictment, which details what prosecutors have called a “big and bold” plan to avoid taxes on executive compensation.

In total, Weisselberg alone received about $ 1.76 million in “collateral compensation,” according to the indictment.

The Trump organization, Trump Payroll and Weisselberg, who worked for the former president and his family for more than four decades, pleaded not guilty in July to the charges, which do not include Trump himself.

“We have studied the indictment and it is full of unsubstantiated and erroneous factual and legal claims regarding Allen Weisselberg. We look forward to challenging these claims in court,” said lawyers for Weisselberg, Skarlatos and Mary Mulligan. , in a statement to NBC.

In court on Monday morning, Weisselberg’s attorneys told Merchan they had received around six million pages of documents as part of the evidence-gathering phase of the case, a deluge that requires them to review 30,000 pages. per day, seven days a week, NBC reported.

A prosecutor replied that Weisselberg “is no stranger to these documents, he has been with the Trump Org for 35 years,” according to NBC.

This is last minute news. Please check for updates.

– CNBC’s Dan Mangan contributed to this report.