‘We’ve lived clean lives’: Eric Trump dismisses fears he and his siblings could face indictments
Eric Trump dismissed fears he could be indicted and insisted he has led a ‘clean life’ after the Trump Organization was charged in a 15-count indictment.
The son of the former president, 37, was asked if he was concerned if an indictment was coming his way after prosecutors brought tax fraud charges against the Trump Organization and chief financial officer Allen Weisselberg.
Speaking to Newsmax’s Eric Bolling on Thursday, Eric dismissed these fears and insisted that he and his siblings Donald Jr, 43, and Ivanka, 39, have always led ‘amazingly clean’ lives.
Eric, who is the executive vice president of the Trump Organization, said: ‘You know what? I’m not, Eric, because guess what, we’ve always lived amazingly clean lives.
Eric Trump, 37, said he is not concerned about being indicted prosecutors brought tax fraud charges against the Trump Organization and chief financial officer Allen Weisselberg
‘And believe me, if they could’ve, they already would’ve, right? I mean, that’s what they wanted, that was their end goal.’
He went on to blast Joe Biden’s son Hunter, 51, referring to reports that the President might have inadvertently paid for a series of wild nights Hunter had with a prostitute at a Los Angeles hotel in 2018.
Eric also referred to reports that Hunter made a deal to sell his paintings for up to $500,000 to ‘confidential’ buyers, sparking concerns over bribery and potential money laundering. It came after his alleged corruption over prior business deals in Ukraine and China.
The businessman went on to say that, unlike President Joe Biden’s children, he and his siblings entered the business world long before their father ever began politics and were ‘very successful’.
He continued: ‘Don, Invanka and I live nice clean lives and we work very, very hard and guess what?
‘Long before politics ever came into our lives we were in the business world and we were successful, and we worked very hard and we lived clean lives.
Eric (centre right) dismissed these fears and insisted that he and his siblings Donald Jr (left), 43, and Ivanka (centre left), 39, have always led ‘clean’ lives. Also pictured: Tiffany Trump
‘It’s very different from the Bidens who were never in business until their father got into politics. And they milked it for everything it’s worth and they still do it to this day.’
Meanwhile, Eric’s wife Lara Trump told Fox News yesterday that the charges brought against the Trump Organization’s chief financial officer Alan Weisselberg were ‘disgraceful’.
She fumed: ‘Let me be really clear with people: what we saw happen to Alan Weisselberg today was absolutely disgraceful.
‘Had this happened to anyone else, we are talking about five years of an investigation by Cy Vance [Jr.], the district attorney, we are talking about 3.5 million pages of documents because they are so desperate Dan to find anything on Donald Trump because they want to disqualify him from running for president in 2024.’
Allen Weisselberg, 73, appeared before a judge in New York on Thursday, charged with running a 15-year scheme to help its executives evade taxes by compensating them with $1.7 million in fringe benefits that were hidden from the authorities.
Prosecutors painted Weisselberg as a ‘soldier’ in the Trump Organization, having worked for the company ever since 1973, under Donald Trump’s father Fred.
But Trump Jr, an executive vice president at The Trump Organization, told Fox News‘ Jesse Watters on Thursday that the charges against Weisselberg were akin to those pressed by the Russian president, Vladimir Putin.
‘This is the political persecution of a political enemy,’ he said.
‘This is what Vladimir Putin does. Just ask Navalny,’ Trump Jr said referencing the dissident Alexei Navalny. ‘That’s what’s happened in New York. It’s the equivalent of Russia, Russia, Russia.
He added: ‘After five years, three million documents, countless witnesses and hours of grand jury testimony and forensic auditors, this is what they come up with.’
Allen Weisselberg, 73, was charged with running a 15-year scheme to help its executives evade taxes by compensating them with $1.7 million in fringe benefits were hidden from authorities
Eric’s wife Lara Trump (pictured with Eric left) said the charges brought against Trump Organization chief financial officer Alan Weisselberg were ‘disgraceful’. Also pictured: Ivanka Trump and her husband Jared Kushner, and Donald Trump Jr and Kimberly Guilfoyle
‘They’re going to charge a guy who is 75 years old on crimes of avoiding taxes on fringe benefit. People in corporate America get a corporate card.’
‘I’m sure you’ve paid taxes every time you’ve taken a car to or from work. It happens sometimes,’ Trump Jr continued.
‘This is what – this is not what they promised the American public, but they have to do something.’
The Trump Organization was also charged in a 15-count indictment, that included charges of conspiracy, grand larceny, tax fraud and falsifying business accounts.
The maximum prison sentence is 15 years, but Weisselberg would likely get less, if any time at all.
Assistant District Attorney Carey Dunne said: ‘As spelled out in the indictment, this was a 15-year long tax fraud scheme.
‘It was orchestrated by the most senior executives who were financially benefiting themselves and others.’
Trump Jr said that they deliberately announced the charges on the Thursday of the July 4 weekend ‘because it’s nonsense’.
He added: ‘But this is what they do to their enemies. No different than Putin.’
The indictment accused Weisselberg of failing to pay tax on two leased Mercedes-Benzes, a rent-free apartment, bonuses and about $360,000 in school fees paid for by the Trump Organization.
It also said that other, unnamed executives were given similar benefits and that Weisselberg orchestrated the scheme with ‘others.’
Donald Trump Jr (right) said on Thursday that the charges against Weisselberg (back) were akin to those pressed by the Russian president, Vladimir Putin
Trump Jr accused the New York officials of attempting ‘to destroy a man’s life, his reputation’, and said it was like living ‘in a banana republic’.
He added: ‘And in this is what they’ve got after all of that time.
‘Imagine the millions they spent had they done that actually trying to stop real criminals in New York, like the tens of thousands that looted in New York last year.
‘Hundreds of thousands of them were released without even a slap on the wrist just last week.
‘Penn station is like a war zone. The city is going to hell and this is where they are focusing. ‘
Trump Jr disputed the $1.7million figure, insisting that it was income.
‘The taxable portion of that to New York state is eight percent,’ he claimed.
‘That’s $136,000 over 16 years. That’s ten grand a year.
‘Half of that, because my father is a good guy, he paid for this guy’s grandchildren’s education.
‘Our tax experts say that’s not even taxable. You can pay for someone’s education that way. It comes out to less than ten grand a year. ‘
He concluded: ‘This is a farce. It’s a disgrace that they spent millions of dollars and years, instead of prosecuting actual murderous thugs on the streets of New York, they go after their political enemies.’
Weisselberg, dressed in dark suit and open-necked pale blue shirt, cut a diminished figure in a crowded New York Supreme Court on Thursday.
He was frequently invisible behind black shirted court officers and spoke only to enter a plea of not guilty. He was required to turn in his passport and will return to court on September 9.
The charges against the company and Weisselberg – whom Trump once praised as doing ‘whatever was necessary to protect the bottom line’ – were the first indictments delivered in a two-year investigation by the Manhattan district attorney’s office.
The various schemes alleged in the indictment include: $1,174,018 in untaxed income used to pay Weisselberg’s rent $359,058 in unreported compensation for private school fees $196,245 in untaxed income for Mercedes Benz leases $29,400 in under-the-table cash used to pay holiday tips
Trump Organization lawyers believe they can strip out the school fees and some other items from the charges, possibly reducing the taxable amount to $800,000.
With a state income tax rate of about 10 percent, that means Weisselberg may face a tax bill of just $80,000.
But the real target may be creating enough leverage to persuade him to ‘flip,’ according to Michael Cohen, who was sentenced to three years in prison for crimes related to his work as Trump’s fixer.
‘Weisselberg now knows what handcuffs feel like as well as being placed in a cell,’ he told DailyMail.com.
‘As the pressure by prosecutors increase on him and his sons, the smart money would be on Weisselberg cooperating for leniency.’
The charges could also complicate the Trump Organization’s relationships with banks and partners, not to mention the political future of the former president.
‘The political witch hunt by the radical left Democrats, with New York now taking over the assignment, continues,’ Trump said in a statement. ‘It is dividing our country like never before.’
His office emailed another statement later in the afternoon, linking the case more directly to the votes of his supporters.
He asked: ‘Do people see the radical left prosecutors, and what they are trying to do to 75M+++ voters and patriots, for what it is?’
New York Attorney General Letitia James said the developments were an ‘important marker’ in the investigation of the Trump Organization.
‘This investigation will continue, and we will follow the facts and the law wherever they may lead,’ she said.
Weisselberg pleaded not guilty and was released on bail. Former president Donald Trump’s company and its long-serving chief financial officer were charged in the first indictments brought in a two-year investigation
But Trump’s son Eric blasted the investigation before the charges were unsealed, saying taxpayers’ money had been wasted.
‘It is an absolute abuse of power and a political vendetta,’ he told DailyMail.com.
‘They are petrified my father will run again in 2024.
‘After five years, hundreds of subpoenas, three and a half million pages of documents, and dozens of witnesses, this is what they have?’
The Trump Organization described Weisselberg as ‘a loving and devoted husband, father and grandfather.’
‘He is now being used by the Manhattan District Attorney as a pawn in a scorched earth attempt to harm the former President,’ it said in a statement.
‘The District Attorney is bringing a criminal prosecution involving employee benefits that neither the IRS nor any other District Attorney would ever think of bringing.
‘This is not justice; this is politics.’
The case against Trump’s trusted lieutenant – who began work for the Trump family in 1973 – could give New York prosecutors an opening to pressure him into cooperating and offering evidence about the former president’s financial dealings.
But so far Trump has shrugged off the threat and Weisselberg is not believed to have flipped on his boss.
The indictment follows months of increasing pressure after the Manhattan DA Cyrus Vance, a Democrat, announced he was going to step down at the end of this 2021.
Vance fought a long battle to get Trump’s tax records released and has been subpoenaing documents and interviewing company executives and other Trump insiders.
Trump did not respond to reporters’ shouted questions about the New York case as he visited Texas on Wednesday, but earlier in the week, the Republican blasted the prosecutors as ‘rude, nasty, and totally biased’ and said his company’s actions were ‘standard practice throughout the U.S. business community, and in no way a crime.’
Just how essential Weisselberg would be to prosecutors is a matter of debate – with high-stakes relevancy Trump.
