July 1, 2021 Trump Organization charges

From CNN's Kara ScannellIn a statement released Thursday afternoon, a spokesperson for the Trump Organization writes, "Make no mistake – this is not about the law; this is all about politics.” The statement goes on to call the charges from the Manhattan District Attorney a “political vendetta.”New York prosecutors on Thursday charged the Trump Organization, Trump Payroll Corporation and Chief Financial Officer Allen Weisselberg with 15 felony counts in connection with an alleged tax scheme stretching back to 2005.From CNN’s Erica Orden and Sonia MogheAccording to the indictment, the Trump Organization company paid for rent, utilities and garage expenses on a Riverside Boulevard apartment that chief financial officer Allen Weisselberg and his wife occupy.The indictment says the company maintained internal spreadsheets tracking the amounts it paid for Weisselberg’s rent, utilities and garage expenses, and that it accordingly reduced the amount of direct compensation to account for the expenses it was paying for him. “Weisselberg intentionally caused the tuition payments to be omitted from his personal tax returns, despite knowing that those payments represented taxable income and were treated as compensation by the Trump Corporation in internal records,” the indictment stated.Former President Trump just released a statement, casting the indictment against the Trump Organization and its CFO as part of a “political Witch Hunt.”More on the charges: New York prosecutors today charged the Trump Organization, Trump Payroll Corporation and its Chief Financial Officer Allen Weisselberg with 15 felony counts in connection with an alleged tax scheme stretching back to 2005, in an extraordinary legal development against the former President's namesake company.Prosecutors in court said the counts include a scheme to defraud, conspiracy, criminal tax fraud, offering a false instrument for filing and falsifying business records.Trump himself was not charged.CNN's Michael Warren, Erica Orden and Kara Scannell contributed reporting to this post.