POLITICS
Donald Trump Compares New York Tax Fraud Charges
to a 'Communist Dictatorship'
BY
CHRISTINA ZHAO ON 7/3/21 AT 9:40 PM EDT
Former
President Donald Trump railed against New York prosecutors on Saturday for
charging the Trump Organization and its chief financial executive in what he
called a politically motivated effort "reminiscent of a communist
dictatorship."
On
Thursday, the Manhattan district attorney's office indicted the Trump
Organization and its chief financial officer, Allen Weisselberg, on tax-related
charges following a three-year investigation, conducted alongside New York
Attorney General Letitia James, which grew out of the hush money payment to
adult film actress Stormy Daniels.
Trump
dismissed the charges in his opening remarks at the "Save America"
rally in Sarasota, Florida, on the eve of Independence Day—the second
campaign-style rally held by the ex-president since he left the White House in
January.
"In
New York, they're doing what you would see in a Third World nation. This isn't
for us. It's reminiscent of a communist dictatorship targeting your political
opponents," he told the crowd.
Prosecutors
have accused Trump Organization and Weisselberg of engaging in a 15-year scheme
to avoid taxes on $1.7 million in off-the-books company perks that should have
been declared as income. "To put it bluntly, this was a sweeping and
audacious illegal payments scheme," said Carey Dunne, general counsel for
Manhattan district attorney Cyrus Vance Jr.
Trump was
not charged, nor were any other company executives. The defendants have pleaded
not guilty and vowed to battle the charges.
"It's
unprecedented, unheard of, and totally unacceptable in America for prosecutors
to run for office on a promise to get their political enemies," Trump
continued. "How about the one in New York state? 'We're going to get
Trump, I'm running.' She knows nothing about me, all she knows is she's going
to get me from the day she got in. But you know that people are wise to
it."
Trump is
referring to James, the first woman and first African American to be elected as
New York attorney general. Throughout her 2018 campaign, James pledged to go
after Trump on "day one" of her term over his alleged violation of
the Emoluments Clause.
"It's
just fascist and authoritarian. The people who talk about democracy are
literally destroying it before our very eyes. Nobody can believe the things
that we're witnessing," Trump told his supporters. "Four years of
searching, dozens and dozens of interviews, and millions of millions of dollars
spent of taxpayer funds, all wasted."
"The
radical left continues to search for a crime and wreck lives, break laws,
violate every principle of justice, fairness and liberty—you say it, you see
it—on a constant basis," he added. "It's really called prosecutorial
misconduct."
Newsweek
reached out to the Manhattan District Attorney's office and New York Attorney
General Letitia James for comment. This story will be updated with any
response.
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