Michael Cohen: Weisselberg indictment ‘the tip of the iceberg’

Michael Cohen, former President Trump’s ex-lawyer, weighed in on the Thursday indictment of the Trump Organization and its longtime chief financial officer, calling the charges “the tip of the iceberg.”

“I don’t want people to think that this case is about Allen Weisselberg and an apartment and a free car and so on. It is substantially larger in scope than just that aspect. That is but the tip, it’s the tip of the iceberg, and there is so much more that’s going to be coming,” Cohen said during an interview on “CNN Newsroom.”

New York City prosecutors charged the Trump Organization and Weisselberg with multiple fraud and conspiracy charges.

Weisselberg, who surrendered to the Manhattan district attorney’s office early Thursday morning, pleaded not guilty to all 15 charges, which included tax fraud, conspiracy, grand larceny and falsifying business records.

Prosecutors said he avoided paying taxes on about $1.76 million in income between 2005 and 2017.

Both Weisselberg and the organization have denied any misconduct.

Cohen, who was previously sentenced to three years in prison for crimes that were connected to his work for Trump, said Weisselberg is “not the keystone to the investigation.”

He argued that “the documents speak for themselves,” and said there are “more than enough people that are capable in testifying to what went on.”

The indictment unsealed on Thursday alleged that the Trump Organization was paying for Weisselberg’s rent on a Manhattan apartment, living expenses, a lease on a Mercedes and a relative’s private school tuition.

The charging documents claim that personal checks that went towards the tuition expenses were “signed by Donald J. Trump.”

When asked why Trump’s signature had been on the check, Cohen emphasized that “there is nothing that happened in the Trump Organization that did not go to Donald, whether it was the purchasing of paperclips or the payment of Allen Weisselberg’s grandchildren’s tuition.”

Michael Cohen: Allen Weisselberg’s head is “on the chopping block” https://t.co/XGWmEOknmd pic.twitter.com/FpRfDrdKQe

— CNN Newsroom (@CNNnewsroom) July 1, 2021

Trump slammed the news of the charges in a statement, calling it a “political witch hunt.”

“The political Witch Hunt by the Radical Left Democrats, with New York now taking over the assignment, continues. It is dividing our Country like never before!” he said in a statement.

Ron Fischetti, an attorney representing the company in the case, mocked the charges brought by the prosecutors, writing ”this is all they have?”

“After years of investigation and the collection of millions of documents and devoting the resources of dozens of prosecutors and outside consultants, this is all they have?” Fischetti said.

“The District Attorney is supposed to be apolitical, but everyone knows that the only reason they are proceeding with this case is because it is ‘Trump’. As far as we are concerned, this case is over,” he added.