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Republicans still hold the Senate, but a Democratic majority in the House can make life difficult for the Trump organization. Committee chairs may train executives at public hearings and require testimony about all relationships of the private corporation. They can also flood it with document requests.
In the aftermath of the elections, executives reminded staff to preserve the archives, according to someone familiar with the conversations. They also considered using an additional external lawyer, said this person, especially to a company specializing in government investigations. Although we do not really know how serious this option is – two other people familiar with Trump's legal team say they are not aware of any effort to engage more money. lawyers – this would constitute a significant change for the president's family business, which tends to rely on a tight group of long-standing loyal leaders and lawyers.
Two of the company's lawyers told CNN that they were comfortable with their current team, well prepared and experienced in view of the number of prosecutions over the years. One could also think, perhaps, that democratic investigations might not be as politically damaging as some of the president's relatives fear.
Lawyers close to the president and his company suggest that Democrats moderate their investigations once they formally take over next year, while pressure is being exerted to balance the potential political fallout of trying to convince the Trump Organization to guard against other investigative priorities, such as government spending. by cabinet members. Some of these same lawyers expect Congress to adopt a more moderate tone in order to advance other democratic priorities such as the protection of health care and the adoption of a package of infrastructure measures. .
Open investigations
Whatever the case may be, the takeover of the House by Democrats is still in over a month. Until then, the Trump organization will continue to handle two open investigations and the threat of a third. The New York State's Tax and Finance Department is investigating allegations of tax evasion, CNN reported, while the US Attorney's Office in Manhattan was investigating whether executives were violating the laws on financing the tax. election campaign to facilitate secret payments of women presuming business. This investigation is the subject of an "ongoing" investigation by the grand jury, according to documents filed by the court and a person familiar with the case.
The New York Attorney General's office is currently pursuing a civil lawsuit against the president's charitable foundation, the Donald J. Trump Foundation, as well as the president himself and his adult children. The office is also questioning the possibility of continuing a criminal investigation into the charity, an effort that could affect the Trump Organization, given the proximity between the non-profit enterprise profit and society. Tish James, newly elected Attorney General, went to the presidency promising the voters an aggressive prosecution of the president.
The Trump organization also has the problem of Michael Cohen, a former vice president of the company and long-time Trump lawyer, who pleaded guilty in August to eight charges brought by the US Attorney's Office in Manhattan. Cohen has spoken with federal investigators and should be sentenced on December 12. Allen Weisselberg, chief financial officer of the Trump Organization, has enjoyed limited immunity for his cooperation in the prosecutor's investigations on Cohen. Weisselberg's cooperation is limited to the Cohen investigation.
Existing assignments
Regarding ethical issues, including emoluments, the Trump organization responded to about 85 percent of applications, he added. The Democratic staff members disagree with the description, noting that many of the responses did not provide enough or no information.
Democrats have said that the hundreds of letters they have sent in the past two years – either asking for documents themselves or imploring Republicans to investigate various issues – are a road map for majority inquiries. and the Trump Organization has been a frequent target. in several committees.
"I've always thought the key was to follow the money," said Washington representative Denny Heck, Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee. "That would be what I wanted most: to do something to resolve some of the questions that had been asked as to whether the Russians exercised undue influence over President Trump because of pre-existing financial problems."
A spokesman for the bank declined to comment on the change of management and told CNN a previous statement that "Deutsche Bank takes its legal obligations seriously and remains committed to cooperating with authorized investigations".
In search of lawyers
The president's society is confronted with a situation that is not so different from that of the president himself. While the investigation led by the special advocate Robert Mueller on Russian interference in the elections enters its final phase and as House democrats prepare to launch a barrage of investigations , the White House seeks to hire up to two dozen lawyers to fulfill its duties as a lawyer. exhausted in recent months, following the departure of the lawyers.
But there is a difference between hiring lawyers for the White House and the president's society. Taxpayers pay the bill for these White House lawyers, while the money to defend his business comes from the Trump family. Over the years, the company has been reluctant to spend a lot of money to appeal to many expensive lawyers. Instead, she decided to rely on a small group of loyal people to solve her legal problems.
The company's main outside lawyer is Alan Futerfas, a New York-based criminal defense lawyer who represents not only the Trump Organization, but also the eldest sons of the president, Donald Jr and Eric, who now run the company. Futerfas' company, consisting of only three senior lawyers, was the front-line response team following multiple investigations by Mueller's office, Manhattan federal prosecutors and several congressional committees.
Futerfas works in close collaboration with Garten, the general counsel of the company. Although Futerfas handled most of the inquiries for the company and its sons, the interests of these clients could sometimes diverge, hence the need to engage another group of lawyers to represent only the society. Futerfas and Garten did not respond to requests for comment. The Trump Organization either.
The lines between Trump's interests and those of his company were indistinguishable before he arrived at the White House. When he took office in January 2017, he placed his assets in trust and entrusted the day-to-day management of his business to Donald Jr and Eric. Over the years, Trump has turned to a trusted set of outside law firms to represent him at once. This includes the firm Morgan Lewis, who advised Trump on tax issues, as well as two lawyers in particular, Marc Kasowitz and Larry Rosen.
Kasowitz, a longtime Trump lawyer, continues to be involved in various cases for the president, including defending him in the defamation lawsuit filed by Summer Zervos, a former competitor of The Apprentice. Kasowitz was one of the first members of the legal team of the chairman in charge of the affairs arising from the investigation into the Mueller case, but in July 2017 he left the place to John Dowd , who left in May 2018.
Rosen has represented Trump since the early 1990s. He has been involved more recently in campaign issues and a defamation suit against the president by GOP strategist Cheryl Jacobus. He also represented Cohen in an arbitration dispute regarding payments to Stormy Daniels, the adult film actress who allegedly had sex with Trump. The White House has denied his allegations.
Ultimately, the extent of surveillance on society will become clear when Democrats take control of the House in January.
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