We’ll look at the plea deal for a Trump Organization loyalist who could be sentenced to 15 years in prison. We’ll also hear from a violinist from Ukraine, who cherished time in Manhattan before a few concerts.
Allen Weisselberg’s ex-wife once said that he and Donald Trump are like Batman and Robin. Former Trump attorney Michael Cohen compared them to Frick and Frack, while a former Trump executive called Weisselberg an apparently loyal “soldier” who was “good at doing what Donald wants him to do.” we do”.
Today Weisselberg is expected to plead guilty in a tax scheme related to the Trump Organization, where he served as the top executive for many years. Prosecutors said he failed to report perks like renting a Mercedes-Benzes, renting an apartment on the Upper West Side and private school tuition for his grandchildren – perks that have been tracked across the board. spreadsheet in the Trump Organization.
The plea agreement that Weisselberg’s lawyers agreed to would not require him to cooperate with the Manhattan district attorney’s office on the investigation of the former president, who has not been accused of wrongdoing.
But it will require him to testify at the company’s trial in the fall, according to people with knowledge of the matter. That would put the company at a disadvantage as it would face many of the same charges Weisselberg is admitting. Although Weisselberg is believed to be unrelated to Trump, his testimony would lend credence to the allegations, reducing efforts by the company’s attorneys to claim that no crime was committed. be done.
Weisselberg’s plea negotiations became known last week after a judge refused to bring a criminal case against Weisselberg and the Trump Organization. The New York Times reported on Monday that his lawyers and prosecutors were close to reaching an agreement on it, and CNN reported on Wednesday that he had agreed to testify at the Trump Organization trial. His attorneys, Nicholas Gravante Jr. and Mary Mulligan, declined to comment, as did a spokeswoman for the Manhattan district attorney’s office, which is seeking the indictments.
Under the plea agreement, Weisselberg must admit to the 15 felonies he was charged with in an indictment made public last year. Weisselberg allegedly participated in a scheme to provide Trump Organization executives with off-the-books perks. Prosecutors said Weisselberg himself avoided paying taxes on $1.76 million in income over the past 15 years.
Prosecutors had hoped they could press Weisselberg to take a stand against Trump. But Weisselberg refused to sit down with them even after his lawyers worked out a potential plea agreement, people with knowledge of the matter said. Prosecutors have essentially charged him with conspiring with the Trump Organization, which he will have to admit at today’s hearing.
Weisselberg’s willingness to plead guilty and go to prison shows his loyalty to Trump, with whom he worked for nearly 50 years. At the company’s trial in the fall, Trump’s lawyers were able to assert that Weisselberg accepted the plea to avoid a harsher sentence. Weisselberg could face up to 15 years in prison plus financial penalties if he is found guilty by a jury. Instead, he is expected to be sentenced to five months in prison under the plea agreement. Given his time on record for good behavior, he could end up in jail for around 100 days.
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Outside a cafe on Tenth Avenue, the lights changed from red to green, and a pair of eighteen-wheelers sped at full speed. Inside, Julia Tokach is explaining why she found a sense of peace during her first 18 hours in New York.
There were no sirens, she said. There are no sirens of the air raid.
Tokach is a violinist from Ukraine. During the six-month war with Russia, air raid sirens became as much a part of life in Ukraine as ambulance or police sirens in Manhattan. “Practice and drills are ‘hard to do when every second you might have to go to a bomb shelter’,” she said.
Tokach performed in concerts for Ukrainian soldiers after the invasion began, and in June she joined Ukrainian Free Orchestra, a group of 74 musicians is on an international tour of 12 cities. It has concerts scheduled tonight and tomorrow at Damrosch Park at Lincoln Center. The orchestra arrived on Tuesday, and Tokach immediately felt comfortable in Manhattan.
“There is no sense of fear” in Ukraine, she said.
Tokach and Roxolana Dubova, an orchestra violinist, learned what it’s like to be a celebrity: While walking in Central Park, they were recognized by T-shirts with the orchestra’s name on the front and Concert schedule on the back. “People say, ‘Come back, we want to see when you’re playing,’” Tokach said.
The cityscape feels familiar, Tokach says. She learned how to get around New York from the movies – she and Dubova recognized places in the park from “Home Alone 2: Lost in New York”.
Tokach said she wanted to see Waldorf Astoria, not because musician Cole Porter lived there, and later Frank Sinatra. She remembered Waldorf from the 2001 romantic comedy “Serendipity,” starring Kate Beckinsale and John Cusack. (She can’t go for a walk to see – not on this trip to New York anyway. Waldorf has been closed for renovations since 2017)
As the battle goes on, musicians sometimes struggle to keep their mind on their music. Tokach said she started each day by checking the news about the fighting at home.
“We understood we had to go back,” she said. “We’re just enjoying the moment.”
METROPOLITAN . Diary
Taxi etiquette
Dear Diary:
I was waiting for a taxi to take me from the urgent care clinic near Lincoln Square to the nearby emergency room. I fell the night before leaving the cinema, hitting my knees and face on the sidewalk.
After a long wait, I spotted a lone taxi stopped at a red light. The driver indicated that he would come pick me up as soon as the lights changed.
Then, in an apparent violation of taxi etiquette, a man who may have been 20 years younger than me jumped down the street in front of me. He saw me and must have noticed I was waiting for a taxi. Apparently he didn’t care because when the light turned green, he brazenly jumped in.
I was angry. Then the unthinkable happened.
The taxi approached me, the taxi thief opened the door, asked where I was going, invited me in, waited as I hobbled in and told the driver to take me where I was going, a few streets away from this person.
He told me he was late for his doctor’s appointment and asked how I was injured.
I said I fell after leaving the cinema. He asked me if I worked in the theater and said that his wife did.
When we got to the emergency room, he didn’t accept the ride and just asked one thing in return: He wanted me to tell his wife what I told him: that he was the best person to ever steal a taxi. from me.
“Sometimes she needs proof that I’m nice,” he said.
I don’t know his name or his wife, but hopefully she will read this.
– Gwen Marcus
Illustrated by Agnes Lee. Send submissions here and Read more Metropolitan Diary here.
So glad we can get together here. See you tomorrow. – JB
PS This is for today Small crosswords and Spell Bee. You can find all our quizzes here.
Melissa Guerrero and Ed Shanahan contributed to New York Today. You can reach the team at [email protected].
