A criminal trial involving tax fraud charges against Donald Trump’s company won’t resume until late next week at the earliest as a key witness continues to recover from COVID-19
Share this Article
Give this Article
You can share 5 more gift articles this month.
Anyone can access the link you share with no account required. Learn more.
Subscribe to gift this article
With a Press Herald subscription, you can gift 5 articles each month.
SUBSCRIBE TODAY
It looks like you do not have any active subscriptions. To get one, go to the subscriptions page.
Subscribe to gift this article
With a Press Herald subscription, you can gift 5 articles each month.
SUBSCRIBE TODAY
Already a subscriber? Sign in.
NEW YORK — A criminal trial involving tax fraud charges against Donald Trump’s company won’t resume until late next week at the earliest as a key witness continues to recover from COVID-19.
Court spokesperson Lucian Chalfen said the trial, in state court in Manhattan, is slated to resume on Thursday – not Monday, as the judge had previously hoped.
Trump Organization senior vice president and controller Jeffrey McConney Seth Wenig/Associated Press
The Trump Organization trial was abruptly halted Tuesday when longtime company senior vice president and controller Jeffrey McConney tested positive for the virus.
McConney was on the witness stand for the first two days of testimony, Monday and Tuesday. He coughed off and on as he walked prosecutors through the company’s bookkeeping and payroll practices.
By Tuesday’s lunch break, McConney’s symptoms had worsened, prompting him to take a COVID test. Chalfen said he was not aware of anyone else involved in the case testing positive.
If the trial resumes Thursday, it will be the only day the case is in court next week.
Court is closed Tuesday for Election Day and Friday for Veterans Day. The judge, Juan Manuel Merchan, previously said he would not hold the trial on Wednesdays.
Merchan has said he expected the trial to take at least four weeks. The prolonged delay could push it into mid-December or beyond.
The Trump Organization is accused of helping some of its top executives avoid income taxes on lavish company-paid perks, including a Manhattan apartment and luxury cars.
McConney was granted immunity to testify last year before a grand jury and again to testify at the criminal trial.
Before Tuesday’s adjournment, McConney told jurors he altered company pay records to reduce one executive’s income tax bill and recounted how the company changed its pay practices and financial arrangements once Trump was elected president in 2016.
Success. Please wait for the page to reload. If the page does not reload within 5 seconds, please refresh the page.
Enter your email and password to access comments.
Forgot Password?
Don’t have a commenting profile?
Hi, to comment on stories you must . This profile is in addition to your subscription and website login.
Already have a commenting profile? .
Invalid username/password.
Please check your email to confirm and complete your registration.
Create a commenting profile by providing an email address, password and display name. You will receive an email to complete the registration. Please note the display name will appear on screen when you participate.
Already registered? Log in to join the discussion.
Only subscribers are eligible to post comments. Please subscribe or login first for digital access. Here’s why.
Use the form below to reset your password. When you’ve submitted your account email, we will send an email with a reset code.
Send questions/comments to the editors.
« Previous
Next »