Trump Organization indicted by New York prosecutors in tax probe ...

During a virtual meeting with prosecutors last week, Fischetti said he asked Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr. for details on the charges that were under consideration."I asked specifically, 'Are any of these charges related to Donald Trump?' And the answer was no," Fischetti told CBS News on Tuesday.The Trump Organization's legal team anticipated the company will be accused of tax crimes relating to alleged failure to pay taxes on corporate benefits and perks, including cars and apartment buildings provided to employees."They didn't use the word 'fringe benefits' or anything like that, but they alleged improper benefits that were conferred on some of the high-ranking individuals in the Trump Organization," Fischetti said.During last week's meeting, prosecutors left attorneys for Mr. Trump and his company with the distinct impression that they had planned to proceed with charges in the coming days. The legal team believes the threat to the Trump Organization posed by prosecution is disproportionate to the alleged misconduct, and feel prosecutors would be unable to prove that the company's leadership — including the former president — had any specific knowledge of improper benefits granted to employees."The district attorney has had all these years, all this time to do this investigation thoroughly from top to bottom," Fischetti told CBS News on Tuesday. For cars, apartments, and I don't know what else." Fischetti added that he believes the district attorney's office has "no evidence whatsoever" showing that the Trump Organization was implicated in what he called "this minimal tax evasion by individuals, which was never charged and has never been charged by the IRS.""We intend to win," Fischetti said.Keir Dougall, a CBS News legal contributor and former federal prosecutor, said it would be difficult for the Trump Organization's lawyers to convince a court to dismiss the potential charges on the basis that such prosecutions are rare."Let's say that these charges were rarely, if ever, brought — that's not a defense," Dougall told CBS News.