Prosecutors indicted the Trump Organization on felony tax fraud issues just five days after talking to  Jennifer Weisselberg, the ex-wife of Barry Weisselberg, who – along with his father, were Trump Organization employees. Jennifer explained how she sat in an office with Trump when they discussed salaries and whether raises would be given out that year (They are focused on 2012 for the purposes of this evidence, but the investigation could encompass any number of years).

Trump said there would be no formal raises in salary. Raises in salary would require the Trump Organization to match the increased pay in taxable income. Instead, Trump would simply personally pay the tuition for the Weisselbergs’ children at their prestigious private school.

Jennifer said Trump was there, and his signature is on the check to the school. That is about as direct as evidence gets in a tax fraud scheme. It shocked prosecutors. According to the Daily Beast:

Weisselberg then provided key details for investigators. In January 2012, inside Trump’s office at Trump Tower on Fifth Avenue, Jennifer Weisselberg watched as Trump discussed compensation with her husband and her father-in-law, both company employees. Her husband wouldn’t be getting a raise, but their children would get their tuition paid for at a top-rated private academy instead.

Weisselberg allegedly relayed to prosecutors that Trump turned to her and said: “Don’t worry, I’ve got it covered.” Prosecutors were astonished, according to one source.

Prosecutors in the Manhattan D.A.’s office are obviously some of the best in the world and have extensive experience in cases such as this. If they were “astonished,” it must mean that most companies make some kind of effort to at least appear legitimate.

It doesn’t bode well for Trump:

If true, Jennifer Weisselberg’s claims would directly tie Trump to what a New York criminal indictment described as a corporate scheme to pay executives “in a matter that was ‘off the books.’”

There is the key. It directly ties Trump to the alleged fraud. He cannot say that it was someone else’s decision. He cannot say he didn’t understand the ramifications. The evidence is right there, he knew it all along and knew why he did it. That makes things infinitely easier for prosecutors, which is always astonishing.

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