Dive Brief:
- Allen Weisselberg — now serving time for committing tax fraud related to his part in a scheme to evade income taxes by hiding compensation while serving as the finance chief of the Trump Organization — has a new attorney, according to the New York Daily News, other media reports and an attorney familiar with the matter who spoke on a condition of anonymity.
- Seth L. Rosenberg, an attorney with the law firm of Clayman Rosenberg Kirshner & Linder, has recently replaced Nicholas A. Gravante Jr. as Weisselberg’s defense attorney and is now representing the former CFO, according to a Daily Beast report which noted that the Trump Organization has been paying Weisselberg’s attorney’s fees.
- The change came as the Trump Organization grew concerned that Gravante would prioritize Weisselberg’s interests over those of former President Donald Trump, according to news reports and the attorney source familiar. “He was told he had to switch lawyers,” the source told CFO Dive, adding that Weisselberg’s severance was a concern.
Dive Insight:
Gravante is a co-chair of Cadwalader’s global litigation group and head of the firm’s commercial litigation practice. Rosenberg specializes in defending white-collar criminal cases and previously served as Assistant District Attorney in the office of then Manhattan District Attorney Robert M. Morgenthau, according to the respective firms’ websites.
On the surface the lawyer swap is a minor development in one of the many legal investigations involving the former president and his company. But the fact that Weisselberg’s legal representation is still a flashpoint even as he is finishing up serving his time nevertheless shines a light on just how closely intertwined the fate of a CFO is with that of the organizations they serve.
The attorney change was reported amid the bombshell news late last week concerning the former president: A Manhattan grand jury has indicted Trump and a New York judge is poised to unseal criminal charges related to an investigation into a hush-money payment made to porn star Stormy Daniels before the 2016 election, according to The Wall Street Journal. Trump, the first U.S. ex-president to face criminal charges, is expected to surrender at the Manhattan DA’s office Tuesday and plead not guilty to charges that have yet to be unsealed, Reuters reported Monday.
Weisselberg, who is serving a five-month sentence in New York’s Rikers Island, pled guilty in August as part of a plea agreement with Manhattan District Attorney Alvin L. Bragg, Jr.’s office under which he also agreed to testify truthfully in the then upcoming criminal trial of the Trump Organization, as well as to repay taxes and interest and penalties. In the fall Weisselberg was a star witness in the trial of two Trump Organization entities which were eventually convicted of engaging in tax fraud and other crimes for over a decade by a Manhattan jury, according to a Bloomberg report.
Now the former Trump finance chief may face a fresh legal threat, according to the source who confirmed the New York Daily News report that said Weisselberg risks being indicted again in a separate matter related to lying about real estate appraisals that were never carried out.
Weisselberg is expected to be released from prison early, on April 19, the source said. After his sentencing in January, Gravante told CFO Dive that Weisselberg would likely serve just 100 days of his sentence due to his anticipated good behavior.
The Trump Organization and Rosenberg did not respond to requests for comment. Gravante declined to comment.
