Donald arrives at Trump Tower as Republican 2024 hopefuls speak at Reagan Library

New York state has opened a criminal investigation into former US president Donald Trump (pictured November 2020)

A Democratic prosecutor nearing the end of his term, a loyal lieutenant of the Trump family and a lawyer determined to sink his former boss: AFP details some of the players in New York’s criminal probe into Donald Trump.

Cyrus Vance

The 66-year-old Democrat has been Manhattan District Attorney since 2010. He was the first to launch a criminal investigation into the Republican ex-president.

Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance (pictured May 2020) has doggedly pursued Donald Trump, winning a years-long battle to obtain his tax records and deploying significant human and financial resources to the politically sensitive investigation

Vance, whose father was US Secretary of State under President Jimmy Carter, has sometimes been accused of a reluctance to prosecute the rich and powerful.

He delayed filing charges against disgraced producer Harvey Weinstein before securing a landmark conviction last year.

Vance has doggedly pursued Trump, though, first by winning a years-long battle to obtain his tax records and secondly by deploying significant human and financial resources to the politically sensitive investigation.

He has announced that he will not run for a fourth term when his current one expires in December, and many observers expect him to go out with a bang by filing what would be the first indictment against a former US president.

Letitia James

The Democrat became the first Black woman to become New York state attorney general in 2018.

Since then, the 62-year-old has forged a reputation as a combative and independent prosecutor, filing countless civil actions against large companies, particularly tech giants, and the National Rifle Association (NRA).

In addition to Donald Trump, Letitia James (pictured August 2020) is also investigating New York’s governor, Andrew Cuomo, over sexual harassment allegations and his response to the coronavirus pandemic

When Trump was in the White House, James launched dozens of civil actions against his government.

She is also investigating New York’s powerful Democratic governor, Andrew Cuomo, over sexual harassment allegations and his response to the coronavirus pandemic.

James has been cited as a possible successor to Cuomo, particularly if her investigation forces him to resign.

Allen Weisselberg

The 73-year-old is the Trump Organization’s long-serving chief financial officer and one of the family’s most loyal servants.

He began as an accountant for Trump’s father’s company before joining the Trump Organization as financial controller in the 1980s when Donald established himself as a Manhattan real estate mogul.

Allen Weisselberg, pictured standing behind former president Donald Trump and his son Donald Jr. in January 2017, has served as the chief financial officer of the Trump Organization since the 1980s

Weisselberg has been around for all of Trump’s entrepreneurial adventures, including when his Atlantic City casinos went bust.

According to Barbara Res, a former executive vice president at the Trump Organization, Weisselberg ‘thought Trump was a god,’ she told the Daily News.

Investigators believe Weisselberg knows all of the Trump family secrets and have been putting pressure on him for months to cooperate with their investigation.

Observers are closely watching whether Weisselberg will turn against his former boss.

Michael Cohen

Trump’s ex-personal lawyer was sentenced to three years in prison in 2018 for tax evasion and violating campaign finance laws relating to Trump’s 2016 vote win.

Cohen was one of Trump’s closest henchmen for a decade, once proudly boasting that he was prepared to ‘take a bullet’ for the real estate mogul-turned-president.

Michael Cohen, pictured March 2021, openly rejoices in former boss Donald Trump’s legal troubles on Twitter and through his podcast

He turned against his former boss, though, deciding to collaborate with federal investigators in Manhattan.

During a Congressional hearing in February 2019, Cohen alleged — among other things — that Trump regularly undervalued or overvalued his assets, both with banks and insurance companies.

Cohen openly rejoices in Trump’s legal troubles on Twitter and through his podcast ‘Mea Culpa.’

Source: AFP

I have just learned, through leaks in the mainstream media, that after being under investigation from the time I came down the escalator 5 ½ years ago, including the fake Russia Russia Russia Hoax, the 2 year, $48M, No Collusion Mueller Witch Hunt, Impeachment Hoax #1, Impeachment Hoax #2, and others, that the Democrat New York Attorney General has ‘informed’ my organization that their ‘investigation’ is no longer just a civil matter but also potentially a ‘criminal’ investigation working with the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office.

There is nothing more corrupt than an investigation that is in desperate search of a crime. But, make no mistake, that is exactly what is happening here.

The Attorney General of New York literally campaigned on prosecuting Donald Trump even before she knew anything about me. She said that if elected, she would use her office to look into ‘every aspect’ of my real estate dealings. She swore that she would ‘definitely sue’ me. She boasted on video that she would be, and I quote, ‘a real pain in the ass.’ She declared, ‘just wait until I’m in the Attorney General’s office,’ and, ‘I’ve got my eyes on Trump Tower.’ She also promised that, if elected, she would ‘join with law enforcement and other Attorney Generals across this nation in removing this President from office,’ and, ‘It’s important that everyone understand that the days of Donald Trump are coming to an end.’

The Attorney General made each of these statements, not after having had an opportunity to actually look at the facts, but BEFORE she was even elected, BEFORE she had seen even a shred of evidence. This is something that happens in failed third world countries, not the United States. If you can run for a prosecutor’s office pledging to take out your enemies, and be elected to that job by partisan voters who wish to enact political retribution, then we are no longer a free constitutional democracy.

Likewise, the District Attorney’s office has been going after me for years based on a lying, discredited low life, who was not listened to or given credibility by other prosecutorial offices, and sentenced to 3 years in prison for lying and other events unrelated to me.

These investigations have also been going on for years with members and associates of the Trump Organization being viciously attacked, harassed, and threatened, in order to say anything bad about the 45th President of the United States. This would include having to make up false stories. Numerous documents, all prepared by large and prestigious law and accounting firms, have been examined, and many hours of testimony have been taken from many people, some of whom I have not seen in years.

These Democrat offices are consumed with this political and partisan Witch Hunt at a time when crime is up big in New York City, shootings are up 97%, murders are up 45%, a rate not seen in 40 years, drugs and criminals are pouring into our Country in record numbers from our now unprotected Southern Border, and people are fleeing New York for other much safer locations to live. But the District Attorney and Attorney General are possessed, at an unprecedented level, with destroying the political fortunes of President Donald J. Trump and the almost 75 million people who voted for him, by far the highest number ever received by a sitting President.

That is what these investigations are all about—a continuation of the greatest political Witch Hunt in the history of the United States. Working in conjunction with Washington, these Democrats want to silence and cancel millions of voters because they don’t want ‘Trump’ to run again. As people are being killed on the sidewalks of New York at an unprecedented rate, as drugs and crime of all kinds are flowing through New York City at record levels, with absolutely nothing being done about it, all they care about is taking down Trump.

Our movement, which started with the Great Election Win of 2016, is perhaps the biggest and most powerful in the history of our Country. But the Democrats want to cancel the Make America Great Again movement, not by Making America First, but by Making America Last. No President has been treated the way I have. With all of the crime and corruption you read about with others, nothing happens, they only go after Donald Trump.

After prosecutorial efforts the likes of which nobody has ever seen before, they failed to stop me in Washington, so they turned it over to New York to do their dirty work. This is what I have been going through for years. It’s a very sad and dangerous tale for our Country, but it is what it is, and we will overcome together.

I have built a great company, employed thousands of people, and all I do is get unfairly attacked and abused by a corrupt political system. It would be so wonderful if the effort used against President Donald J. Trump, who lowered taxes and regulations, rebuilt our military, took care of our Veterans, created Space Force, fixed our border, produced our vaccine in record-setting time (years ahead of what was anticipated), and made our Country great and respected again, and so much more, would be focused on the ever more dangerous sidewalks and streets of New York.

If these prosecutors focused on real issues, crime would be obliterated, and New York would be great and free again!

Michael Cohen said on Wednesday he expects former President Donald Trump to flip on his own family, as the Trump Organization faces a criminal probe and its CFO Allen Weisselberg is being investigated for tax fraud. 

‘I think Donald Trump is going to flip on all of them,’ he told Joy Reid. ‘What do you think about that? Including his children.’

He explained: ‘I really believe that Donald Trump cares for only himself, and he realizes that his goose is cooked,’ so when he will be asked about the Trump Organization’s finances he will blame everyone else.

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In an interview with The ReidOut host Joy Reid on Wednesday former Trump Organization Vice President Michael Cohen, right, said that he believes former President Donald Trump would turn on his family in the criminal investigations into the organization, visibly surprising Reid

‘I think Donald Trump is going to flip on all of them,’ he told Joy Reid. ‘What do you think about that? Including his children’

The Trump Organization is run by Trump’s adult children, Eric (left), and Don Jr. (right)

‘It’s never Donald,’ Cohen, the former vice president of the Trump Organization, said. ‘See, this is the problem. It’s never, ever Donald Trump. It’s always somebody else.’

‘It wasn’t Donald Trump who had the affair,’ he continued. ‘It wasn’t Donald Trump who directed me to make the payments to Stormy Daniels. It wasn’t Donald Trump who got the benefit of the relationship and the actions. It was Michael Cohen. And I’m the bad guy into it. Why? Because I didn’t take the fall.’ 

So, he said, when ‘all of a sudden they turn around and start asking him about his tax returns or about the devaluation of the assets or the way that he took deductions,’ he will say, ‘I don’t do my taxes. It’s my accountant.’ 

‘He’s going to turn on his accountant and point the finger,’ Cohen said, visibly surprising The ReidOut host. ‘He’s going to say ‘Don Jr. handled that, Ivanka handled that. Melania. Don’t take me. Take Melania!’

‘He’s going to tell them to take everyone except for himself.’