(THU 8/18/22)

Judge may allow release of affidavit… U.S. Magistrate Judge Bruce Reinhart on Thursday gave U.S. Justice Department prosecutors one week to submit the affidavit, with proposed redactions, used to issue an FBI warrant to search Donald J. Trump’s Mar-a-Lago, the AP reports. The order indicated the judge is amenable to making at least part of the affidavit supporting the search warrant public. 

The former president’s attorneys requested the affidavit’s release, but the Justice Department argues its release could hamper its ongoing investigation, which it says is “in its early stages.”

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Weisselberg’s plea deal… Chief Financial Officer Allen Weisselberg pleaded guilty to 15 felonies in a Manhattan court Thursday in exchange for a reduced sentence for conspiring with his employer of nearly 50 years, the Trump Organization, to carry out a long-running tax avoidance scheme, The New York Times reports. Under the plea agreement with the Manhattan district attorney’s office, Weisselberg, 75, is required to testify at the Trump Organization’s criminal trial scheduled for this October if prosecutors call him to the stand to admit his role to carry out the tax avoidance scheme. 

If Weisselberg testifies truthfully in the trial, he will receive a five-month sentence and serve as few as 100 days with time credited for good behavior, according to the NYT. Though the criminal case involves the real estate development company run by Donald J. Trump and his family, the plea deal does not require Weisselberg to cooperate with the Manhattan D.A. on its broader criminal investigation and his admissions will not implicate the ex-president. But Weisselberg will be required to pay nearly $2 million in taxes, penalties and interest for receiving tax-free perqs, including leased Mercedes-Benzes, an apartment on New York’s Upper West Side and private school tuition for his grandchildren.

Upshot: Weisselberg’s plea deal is something of a consolation to Manhattan D.A. Alvin Bragg, whose criminal investigation appeared to be falling apart early in the year. Two lead prosecutors abruptly quit the case in February because Bragg had told them he had “doubts about moving forward with a case against Mr. Trump.” The investigation was initiated by Bragg’s predecessor, Cyrus Vance Jr., who chose not to run for re-election last year. 

--Todd Lassa