The House Permanent Select Intelligence Committee just revealed that it plans to subpoena the Trump Organization’s Chief Financial Officer to testify as they begin the arduous task of following the President’s money trail.
House Intel Chairman Adam Schiff (D-CA) recently re-opened and expanded the probe of various foreign influences over the President by the Committee.
Donald Trump told the Times that it was a “red line” for Mueller to investigate his personal finances, but House Democrats are getting ready to cross that line in spectacular fashion.
After yesterday’s bombshell all-day hearings with Donald Trump’s former personal lawyer, the spotlight has shifted dramatically from the President’s illegal hush money payments in the Oval Office to the payments from his son Don Jr. and CFO Allan Weisselberg.
The Daily Beast reports:
The House intelligence community intends to call the Trump Organization’s chief financial officer to testify…
“The Committee anticipates bringing in Mr. Weisselberg,” a Democratic committee aide told The Daily Beast.
The Trump Organization’s CFO Weisselberg is best known as “Executive-1,” who received limited immunity to testify to the SDNY’s grand jury about Cohen and “Individual-1″‘s crimes.
In yesterday’s marathon hearing with Michael Cohen, the fixer made clear that “Individual-1” is Donald Trump, and he was asked repeatedly by Democrats where they should turn to expand their probe into the Trump Organization’s murky finances and frequent crimes leading to a witness list.
Weissberg is clearly at the top of the list.
During questioning, Cohen pointed the finger squarely at Weisselberg for facilitating illegal hush money schemes under Donald Trump’s direction:
Rep. Ro Khanna (D-CA): "Are you telling us, Mr. Cohen, the president directed instruction in conspiracy with Allen Weisselberg and his son Donald Trump, Jr. As part of a criminal conspiracy of financial fraud, is that your testimony today?"
Michael Cohen: "Yes." pic.twitter.com/BwiQsbhKDP— CBS Evening News (@CBSEveningNews) February 27, 2019
Rep. Khanna’s questioning is a particularly troublesome one for Trump because there are New York state laws that make it illegal to cook the books.
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) shrewdly questioned Cohen about Trump’s insurance scams, and again, Trump’s former attorney pointed the finger at Weisselberg.
.@AOC uses her questioning time to ask follow-ups highlighting some figures in Trumpworld who could help answer questions raised by Cohen's testimony — David Pecker and Allen Weisselberg among them pic.twitter.com/EPucIdcbPD
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) February 27, 2019
Now that Congress has finished changing majority parties, House Democrats have embarked upon a strategy of using their investigatory and oversight powers to ramp up the amount of public and private testimony from Donald Trump’s inner circle.
Americans have waited to no avail for years to find out what is inside Donald Trump’s tax returns, which Cohen revealed yesterday, were not yet under audit.
Bringing in the Trump Organization’s inner circle of professional enablers will complete the picture of matching what really happened to what’s on his books.
Allan Weisselberg has already testified against his longtime boss Donald Trump in one criminal case, and his encyclopedic knowledge of the President’s financial affairs means that he could flip outright and reveal even more damaging secrets to Congress now that he’s going to be summoned to Washington D.C.
Original reporting by Spencer Akerman at the Daily Beast.
