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)New York state tax department investigators are scheduled to meet Tuesday with an attorney for President Donald Trump's former personal lawyer Michael Cohen, as part of a state probe regarding Cohen and the Trump Organization that comes as federal prosecutors have asked state and local prosecutors' offices to avoid taking steps that could interfere with their federal case, according to sources familiar with the matter.
The move puts state investigators at odds with the senior leadership of the US Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York, which in the weeks since it charged Cohen with eight criminal counts has requested that other offices with related inquiries hold off on proceeding with certain investigative actions that might derail their efforts.
"This is clear interference with an ongoing criminal investigation," a law-enforcement official involved in the matter said.
Further complicating the situation is that state tax officials, who are examining potential tax fraud by the Trump Organization, have sought to include local prosecutors from the Manhattan district attorney's office in any meeting with Cohen and his attorney, the sources said.
Federal prosecutors generally seek to complete their inquiries without the interference of other overlapping probes that could cause hiccups in their case. While Cohen has already pleaded guilty in the federal case, he has yet to be sentenced and could still seek to cooperate with the US attorney's office. In addition, federal prosecutors are continuing to pursue a line of inquiry stemming from their Cohen investigation, according to a person familiar with the matter: whether Trump Organization executives violated campaign finance laws.
https://www.cnn.com/2018/09/11/politics/new-york-tax-investigators-michael-cohen/index.html
https://ktla.com/2018/09/11/new-yor...te-probe-despite-federal-prosecutors-request/
Ok, folks, tax fraud? Campaign finance violations....where are those pesky tax returns...now you know why he wouldn't show them....he would have been busted from the first day.
Surely the right isn't going to argue that tax fraud isn't that serious of a crime.
The move puts state investigators at odds with the senior leadership of the US Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York, which in the weeks since it charged Cohen with eight criminal counts has requested that other offices with related inquiries hold off on proceeding with certain investigative actions that might derail their efforts.
"This is clear interference with an ongoing criminal investigation," a law-enforcement official involved in the matter said.
Further complicating the situation is that state tax officials, who are examining potential tax fraud by the Trump Organization, have sought to include local prosecutors from the Manhattan district attorney's office in any meeting with Cohen and his attorney, the sources said.
Federal prosecutors generally seek to complete their inquiries without the interference of other overlapping probes that could cause hiccups in their case. While Cohen has already pleaded guilty in the federal case, he has yet to be sentenced and could still seek to cooperate with the US attorney's office. In addition, federal prosecutors are continuing to pursue a line of inquiry stemming from their Cohen investigation, according to a person familiar with the matter: whether Trump Organization executives violated campaign finance laws.
https://www.cnn.com/2018/09/11/politics/new-york-tax-investigators-michael-cohen/index.html
https://ktla.com/2018/09/11/new-yor...te-probe-despite-federal-prosecutors-request/
Ok, folks, tax fraud? Campaign finance violations....where are those pesky tax returns...now you know why he wouldn't show them....he would have been busted from the first day.
Surely the right isn't going to argue that tax fraud isn't that serious of a crime.