A judge has cleared the way for a trial in the criminal case against the
Trump Organization and its longtime chief financial officer, Allen
Weisselberg, to begin this fall.

The case has the potential to shine a bright light on the business
practices of former President Donald Trump, through internal company
records that he fought hard to keep secret.

In the first public courtroom proceeding in this case in almost a year, Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Juan Merchan denied multiple defense
motions to dismiss the case and ordered jury selection to begin Oct. 24.

Weisselberg and the Trump Organization were indicted in July 2021 on
charges they conspired through a variety of gimmicks and deceptions to
evade federal, state and local taxes, an alleged scheme that stretched
over 16 years and allegedly saved Weisselberg close to $1 million.

Since then, all of the action in the case has taken place in
correspondence and behind closed doors. Throughout late 2021, the
Manhattan District Attorney's Office continued to gather evidence,
interviewing witnesses and presenting evidence to a grand jury.

On Jan. 1, a new Manhattan district attorney, Alvin Bragg, was sworn in, replacing Cyrus Vance Jr., who brought the indictment. Donald Trump went
to the Supreme Court of the United States twice in an effort to block
Vance's team from gathering documents. He failed both times.

In February, two senior investigators quit the District Attorney's
office because they believed Bragg was unlikely to charge Donald Trump individually with crimes.

One of the attorneys, Mark Pomerantz, told Bragg in a letter his team
had gathered voluminous evidence of financial crimes committed by Trump, connected with false and misleading statements about his finances.

"I fear that your decision means that Mr. Trump will not be held fully accountable for his crimes," Pomerantz wrote. "I have worked too hard as
a lawyer, and for too long, now to become a passive participant in what
I believe to be a grave failure of justice."

https://www.npr.org/2022/08/12/1116954390/jury-selection-will-start-in-october-for-trump-organization-criminal-trial

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Worst job in America? Being on the orange goon's legal team! HawHawHaw!

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