This week, Manhattan prosecutors revealed that an ongoing investigation into the Trump Organization covered potential criminal behavior. Specifically, amidst a court battle with the president over a subpoena from the Manhattan District Attorney’s office for Trump’s financial records, that DA’s office cited “possibly extensive and protracted criminal conduct at the Trump Organization” as clear justification for their subpoena. At a White House press conference on Monday, Trump frantically melted down over the news.
As I’ve said, this can move quickly. “The Manhattan district attorney’s office suggested…it has been investigating President Trump & his company for possible bank and insurance fraud,a significantly broader inquiry than the prosecutors have acknowledged” https://t.co/8DdgZ1ZzG9
— Neal Katyal (@neal_katyal) August 3, 2020
Asked about the investigation of the Trump Organization, Trump told a reporter:
‘This is just a continuation of the witch hunt. It’s Democrat stuff — they failed with Mueller, they failed with everything. They failed with Congress. They failed at every stage of the game. This has been going on for three and a half, four years — even before I got in, this was starting with the Mueller deal — Mueller started a little bit after, but it started with some of the people that you know very well… this is a continuation of the worst witch hunt in American history. There’s nothing that I know even about it… What they’re doing is they send them around to all over the country, I guess, maybe.’
Watch his comments below:
#BREAKING: President Trump responds to investigation into Trump Organization: "This is a continuation of the worst witch hunt in American history." pic.twitter.com/XwHv1DXdx9
— The Hill (@thehill) August 3, 2020
It’s definitely noteworthy how there’s barely any substance of any kind anywhere in that rant. Most of what Trump has in response to the news of the latest scrutiny of his misconduct consists of insults — and that’s just about it. This is the president of the United States here, and what does he do when faced with pressure? Melt down.
Great example of Trump strategy back-firing – by forcing Manhattan DA's office to further detail/justify reasons for their subpoena they also forced disclosure of fact that Trump & his company under a live criminal investigation. Oops.https://t.co/xBcALFBnC3
— Shanlon Wu (@shanlonwu) August 3, 2020
The Manhattan District Attorney’s office cited three widely circulated media reports as evidence for the potential misconduct on the part of the president and his business. Those reports included a 2019 Washington Post story about how Trump had lied about his net worth when negotiating with potential sources of business funding, an earlier New York Times piece outlining the president’s tax schemes, and a Wall Street Journal article revealing the infamous hush money scheme targeting women with whom the president had affairs.
The Manhattan DA's criminal investigation into @realDonaldTrump and his company has expanded to look at possible bank and insurance fraud. @DeutscheBank presumably was the "victim" of any such fraud. @WRashbaum @BenWeiserNYT https://t.co/c0LvUwMwHb
— David Enrich (@davidenrich) August 3, 2020