Trump insider's ex-wife says she's shared seven boxes of documents with investigators

Graig Graziosi
·2 min read
Workers install the final letter for a giant sign on the outside of the Trump Tower in 2014 (Getty Images)
Workers install the final letter for a giant sign on the outside of the Trump Tower in 2014 (Getty Images)
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A couple's divorce battle has provided prosecutors investigating the Trump Organization with a mountain of information regarding the group's finances.

Barry Weisselberg, the son of the Trump Organization CFO Allen Weisselberg and who also manages Wollman Rink in Central Park for the group, tried to withhold financial information from his wife, Jennifer Weisselberg, during their divorce.

The couple's judge determined that Mr Weisselberg had received perks from the Trump Organization, like a shared apartment – that could have monetary value and therefore be considered during the divorce proceedings. As a result, the judge ordered that the financial information be turned over for Ms Weisslberg and her attorneys to review.

Ms Weisselberg is now cooperating with prosecutors from the New York Attorney General's office and from the Manhattan District Attorney's office, which are running parallel investigations into Donald Trump and his company finances.

The Manhattan DA's office has already successfully subpoenaed the organisation for millions of pages of documents and has won the right to access Mr Trump's tax documents following a battle in the US Supreme Court.

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Seven boxes of financial information given to Ms Weisselberg by her ex-husband as part of their divorce proceedings are now part of the case the prosecutors are building against the former president and his company.

"They picked up documents many times. They ended up taking seven boxes of my documents and scanning them, going through them," Ms Weisselberg told Business Insider. "They took depositions, they took checks, routing numbers, bank account [information], and things like that."

Investigators became especially interested in the documents in Ms Weisselberg's possession in the wake of a Bloomberg report suggesting that the Trump Organization gave the couple an apartment in Manhattan as a wedding gift.

"Since the Bloomberg article came out – I don't think they realised that I had that stuff," Ms Weisselberg said. "The AG came and they started picking up more boxes."

In the article, Ms Weisselberg claimed that the perks offered by the organisation were often given in place of raises, and were used to control the employees.

"It's so controlling," she said. "Because if you want to leave and make the same money – you live there. If you want to leave, where are you going to live?"

Prosecutors are trying to flip Ms Weisselberg's former father-in-law, Allen Weisselberg, and use him to guide them through the company's financial documents.

However, Ms Weisselberg said Mr Weisselberg is unlikely to flip. She described him as being obsessed with how Mr Trump viewed him, and said he cherished the time he spent with the former president.

The Independent requested comment from Barry Weisselberg's attorney, but he was not immediately available.