A man is known by the company he keeps. That is an old proverb but there is a certain truth to it. The CFO of the Trump Organization, Alan Weisselberg, pled guilty to 15 felonies yesterday having to do with unreported tax on perks that he received from the Trump organization. He will serve a small amount of jail time, pay a fine of over $2 million and has agreed to testify in the upcoming case against the Trump organization. If I were Eric and Don Jr. Trump, I would be very nervous.
Weisselberg has lots of company. He was the 11th person in Trump’s orbit to have been indicted and found guilty of crimes. Most of us go through life with little, if any, interaction with felons, but Trump seems to be constantly surrounding himself with them. Perhaps some of these people didn’t set out to commit crimes but they probably got caught up in the tangled and warped web of Trump world and eventually took a fall for the boss.
As a recap, the people who have been associated with Trump in one way or another, and who have been charged with or convicted of crimes are:
- Steve Bannon – charged with fraud in connection with fund raising scheme for Trump’s border wall
- Tom Barrack – charged with seven counts having to do with being an unregistered foreign agent working on behalf of the U.A.E.
- Elliot Broidy – Pleaded guilty in Oct. 2020 to engaging in illegal lobbying effort to stop an investigation into a Malaysian investment fund
- Michael Cohen – Trump’s former personal attorney. Pleaded guilty to a variety of crimes, most notably those about hush money payments to two women
- Michael Flynn – Former National Security Advisor for Trump; pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI; was pardoned by Trump
- Rick Gates – Former deputy campaign manager; pleaded guilty to aiding and abetting Paul Manafort conceal $75 million in foreign bank accounts
- Paul Manafort – Pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy against the US and one count of conspiracy to obstruct justice. Sentenced to 47 months in prison. Pardoned by Trump after serving two years
- George Nader – Informal policy advisor to Trump. Pleaded guilty to two counts of sex crimes involving minors.
- George Papadopoulos – Convicted of lying to investigators about his Russian contacts. Pardoned by Trump
- Roger Stone – Convicted of lying to Congress and threatening witnesses. Pardoned by Trump
- Alan Weisselberg – Pled guilty to 15 felonies for tax evasion.
There will be more. Rudy Giuliani has been told he is the target of a criminal investigation related to the effort to overturn the election results in Georgia. An indictment is likely.
Who knows what will come out of the case against the Trump organization with Weisselberg set to testify. He certainly knows where all of the skeletons are buried. Like I said, if I were Eric and Don Jr. I’d be pretty nervous right now. My guess is that Weisselberg may come to the realization that, given his age, it’s probably not worth dying in jail to protect Trump Inc.!
Given this track record, one has to wonder why anyone would want to get anywhere near Trumpland. It seems like the closer you get to Trump, the higher the probability that you will eventually be indicted on some crime and possibly end up in jail. Of course, looking at the list, many of these people probably didn’t have the best moral compass to begin with and once they landed in Trumpland, they were able to engage in their worst instincts because everyone else around them was engaged in equally nefarious acts. Unsavory characters tend to hang out with unsavory characters.
There is no doubt that the number of people in the Trump orbit to be indicted will increase given the number of investigations that are currently in progress. Will these investigations eventually reach Trump himself? We can only hope!
Most Presidential libraries have displays depicting various things from their time in office. There is an old Air Force One aircraft at the Reagan Presidential Library. Perhaps at the Trump presidential library (although I have heard of no plans for one) there will be a replica of a federal prison cell with all of the Trump associates who have been indicted lining the wall!! What a legacy and a sad commentary on the part of the American electorate that continue to support this man.