The Daily Fuckup

Jurors in the Trump Organization tax case began deliberating in Manhattan on Dec. 5, 2022, after a trial focused on whether two Trump corporate entities used perks and payroll paperwork to dodge taxes. The defendants were the Trump Corporation and Trump Payroll Corporation, companies that did business as the Trump Organization.

Prosecutors said the firms ran a long-running compensation scheme that delivered benefits to executives and employees without properly reporting them. The evidence at trial included claims that luxury apartments, cars, and other perks were treated as off-the-books pay, with false tax forms used to hide the arrangement.

Former Trump Organization chief financial officer Allen Weisselberg testified that he received untaxed compensation and that the company used false W-2 forms to help conceal it. The defense disputed that the conduct amounted to a criminal conspiracy and argued that the companies were being singled out.

Once deliberations started, the case was in the jury’s hands. No verdict had been returned on Dec. 5. The jury convicted the two corporate defendants the following day, on Dec. 6, 2022.