Trump Organization tax fraud trial begins in New York

NEW YORK – The Trump Organization trial kicked off Monday in Manhattan, where prosecutors and lawyers for the former president’s family real estate business began a weekslong process surveying New Yorkers on their political biases.

Judge Juan Merchan estimated it would take a minimum of two weeks to find 12 unbiased New Yorkers to serve on the jury. He expects the trial to last for five or six weeks.

The Trump Organization and Trump Payroll Corporation have pleaded not guilty to a host of criminal tax fraud and conspiracy charges. Prosecutors say the company ran a 15-year “off-the-books” tax evasion scheme, hiding millions in taxable income .

The company tried without success to have the trial pushed back, telling Merchan last month that the cooperation of its longtime moneyman Allen Weisselberg had forced lawyers to rethink its entire defense strategy. The veteran chief financial officer, who once described himself as Donald Trump’s “eyes and ears” from an economic standpoint, pleaded guilty to 15 felonies on Aug. 18.

His plea deal requires him to testify at the trial about conspiring with Trump Organization executives to defraud authorities by underreporting taxable income. The plea deal includes a five-month sentence at New York’s Rikers Island jail for Weisselberg .

Trump has, thus far, empathized with Weisselberg, who he says is a victim of a Democratic-led conspiracy to prevent him from regaining power.

The case is one in a constellation facing the former president and his associates as he mulls another run for the White House.

Last month, New York Attorney General Letitia James filed a $250 million lawsuit against the company following a yearslong civil probe into its business practices.

James’ sweeping complaint accuses Trump and top company executives of manipulating the value of its assets to the tune of hundreds of millions of dollars. It says Trump habitually overstated his personal net worth by “billions.”

If convicted, the Trump entities face significant financial penalties.