Please ensure Javascript is enabled for purposes of website accessibility
NY Prosecutors Interview Michael Cohen About Trump Finances
gvw_ap_news
By Associated Press
Published 4 years ago on
January 15, 2021

Share

NEW YORK — New York prosecutors conducted an hourslong interview Thursday of Michael Cohen, President Donald Trump’s former personal attorney, asking a range of questions about Trump’s business dealings, according to three people familiar with the meeting.

The interview focused in part on Trump’s relationship with Deutsche Bank, his biggest and longest standing creditor, according to the three people, who weren’t authorized to discuss the investigation and spoke to The Associated Press on the condition of anonymity.

The interview, at least the second of Cohen by the Manhattan district attorney’s office, comes amid a long-running grand jury investigation into Trump’s business dealings. District Attorney Cyrus R. Vance Jr. has been waging a protracted legal battle to get access to the president’s tax records.

The U.S. Supreme Court is expected to rule on Trump’s request for a stay and a further appeal after he leaves office Jan. 20.

The New York investigation is one of several legal entanglements that are likely to intensify as Trump loses power — and any immunity from prosecution he might have as a sitting president — as he departs the White House.

The Manhattan-based grand jury has been continuing its work despite the coronavirus pandemic, which has curtailed many court operations.

Vance Has Declined to Provide Specific Details About the Investigation

The Republican president also faces a civil investigation, led by New York Attorney General Letitia James into whether Trump’s company lied about the value of its assets to get loans or tax benefits. Cohen also is cooperating with that inquiry.

He previously told Congress that Trump often inflated the value of his assets when dealing with lenders or potential business partners, but deflated them when it benefited him for tax purposes.

The White House declined to comment. A message seeking comment was sent to Cohen’s attorney.

Trump has repeatedly called the investigations by Vance and James, both Democrats, a baseless political “witch hunt.”

Vance has declined to provide specific details about the investigation, but pointed to news reports of what prosecutors described as “extensive and protracted criminal conduct at the Trump Organization” in court filings.

Among the reports Vance’s office referenced in court filings was a 2017 article about Ladder Capital, a commercial mortgage lender that made more than $250 million in loans to the Trump Organization that were secured by Trump properties. Jack Weisselberg, the son of Trump Organization Chief Financial Officer Allen Weisselberg, is a director of Ladder Capital.

Subpoenas issued in the investigation cover 11 entities engaged in business dealings as far away as Europe and Dubai, according to an appeals court judge speaking at a hearing on the matter.

Cohen, who is serving the remainder of a federal prison sentence on home confinement, has been asked by investigators to examine certain Trump Organization documents and to provide other details about its corporate structure, the people familiar with the matter said. Cohen pleaded guilty to evading taxes, lying to Congress and facilitating campaign finance crimes.

Germany-based Deutsche Bank continued to do business with Trump even after he defaulted in 2008 on a loan for his Chicago hotel and condo development. Trump sued the bank and others whom he blamed for his inability to repay.

But Deutsche Bank’s private banking division continued to lend to Trump, including $125 million to finance the purchase and renovation of his Doral golf resort in 2012, according to previous disclosures.

DON'T MISS

What Are Fresno Real Estate Experts Predicting for 2025 and Beyond?

UP NEXT

Rejoicing Peruvians See Pope Leo XIV as One of Their Own After His Many Years in Peru

Suit Challenges New Rules on Children in Federal Custody Who Crossed Into US

12 hours ago

Fresno Mayor Dyer Bullish on Growth, Calls on Newsom for $200 Million

12 hours ago

Republicans’ Trust in Media Increases Following Trump’s Return to White House

Americans’ trust in news organizations and social media has increased since last year, with Republicans driving this shift following T...

12 hours ago

https://www.communitymedical.org/thecause?utm_source=Misfit+Digital&utm_medium=GVWire+Banner+Ads&utm_campaign=Branding+2025&utm_content=thecause
12 hours ago

Republicans’ Trust in Media Increases Following Trump’s Return to White House

Fox News Channel host Jeanine Pirro and other members of the news media work outside the Manhattan Criminal Court building during the 2nd day of jury deliberations in former U.S. President Donald Trump’s criminal trial over charges that he falsified business records to conceal money paid to silence porn star Stormy Daniels in 2016, in New York City, U.S. May 30, 2024. REUTERS/Mike Segar
12 hours ago

Jeanine Pirro to Be Interim US Attorney for DC, Trump Says

Fresno police arrested a known gang member who ran from officers and tossed a gun over a fence in southeast Fresno. (Fresno PD)
12 hours ago

Fresno Police Catch Fleeing Gang Member Who Tossed Gun Over Fence

12 hours ago

Suit Challenges New Rules on Children in Federal Custody Who Crossed Into US

12 hours ago

Fresno Mayor Dyer Bullish on Growth, Calls on Newsom for $200 Million

12 hours ago

Rejoicing Peruvians See Pope Leo XIV as One of Their Own After His Many Years in Peru

12 hours ago

FEMA’s Acting Administrator Is Replaced a Day After Congressional Testimony

A handout photo shows missiles being launched, in North Korea, May 8, 2025. KCNA via REUTERS
13 hours ago

North Korea’s Kim Jong Un Leads Missile Test, Stresses Nuclear Force Readiness, KCNA Says

Help continue the work that gets you the news that matters most.

Search

Send this to a friend