In the wake of the Allen Weisselberg indictments (a whopping 15 of them, actually) Donald Trump and his organization have seemingly been trying to do what they do best — sweep the whole ordeal under the rug as quickly and quietly as they can and pretend as though they really weren’t all that close to the guy.
However, according to one CNN legal analyst, it’s “too little too late” for that tactic to work this time.
Recently, the Trump Organization has reportedly removed CFO Allen Weisselberg from a variety of his roles within the firm, but chief legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin for CNN says the legal benefits to these moves are pretty much non-existent at this point.
Speaking on tonight’s segment of CNN’s The Situation Room, host Wolf Blitzer asked the legal expert, “How do you read this decision to remove Weisselberg from these subsidiaries?”
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“It is an attempt to separate him because of the regulatory issues, but the problem the company itself is indicted,” Toobin responded. “So they can try to pretend this is an Allen Weisselberg problem, but the problems for the Trump Organization go on.”
Toobin goes on to theorize that Weisselberg has actually only just now begun to truly feel the heat from prosecutors to flip on ex-President Trump and cooperate with their investigation.
“The other issue is this is reminiscent of the former president’s lawyer indicted,” he explained. “First, it was we love Michael Cohen. Then they stopped paying Michael Cohen’s attorney fees. We’ll see if they keep paying Weisselberg’s attorney fees. The case against him — in fairness, we haven’t heard his side of the story, but looks strong. He is going to be in a very difficult place, and this push away from the Trump Organization may be a push, unintentionally, towards him cooperating with the government.”
Blitzer noted, “A source calls this removal ‘prudent corporate governance.’ Is there potentially any legal benefit here to this kind of maneuver?”
“Well, it is prudent not to have a chief financial officer who is under indictment,” the legal analyst answered. ”
The regulatory bodies, whether liquor licenses or gambling licenses, they have certain requirements for the company that they agree to regulate. The problem is the Trump Organization itself is under indictment. So they’re going to have regulatory problems no matter what. Yes, this is prudent, but it may be too little, too late.”
You can watch the clip here:
Featured image via screen capture
