-The prosecutor in a criminal investigation
of Donald Trump's business dealings
has convened a grand jury that could decide
whether to indict Trump or executives at his company.
For more on this, it's time for "A Closer Look."
[ Theme music plays ]
For the four years of Trump's presidency,
we kept hearing about the possibility
that Trump could maybe potentially,
hypothetically face some eventual legal consequences.
There was the Mueller Report, two impeachments,
the Michael Cohen case,
where he was essentially an unindicted coconspirator.
Every news story for four years had a thin veneer of crime.
You wouldn't have been surprised to see
a lower third on CNN that read,
"Trump meets with Polish President,
who claims his wallet is missing."
Or how about the emoluments clause?
Remember that -- when we all had to learn
what an emolument was -- a completely useless
piece of information we all had to store in our brains,
because the framers' worst nightmare,
a shady real-estate grifter
with business dealings in foreign countries,
accidentally became president?
If you asked Benjamin Franklin,
"Is it cool if a bunch of Saudi lobbyists
stay at the president's hotel to curry favor with him?"
he'd be so shocked, he'd probably
fall off his French prostitute.
So, we wasted all that time learning about emoluments,
only for the Supreme Court to dismiss the case against Trump
after he left office. They basically said,
"Yeah, we, uh -- we stopped prosecuting for that."
You know, it's like when you go to Subway
and demand a $5 Footlong, only for them to say,
"We don't do that anymore." So you say, "Well,
has anything else around here changed I should know about?"
And then they whisper, "Have you heard about Jared?"
And you say, "No!", even though you have heard,
because you still want to hear them tell it.
The point is, Trump has been in potential legal hot water
for a while now, as evidenced not just by
his own criminal probe but all the criminals,
or alleged criminals, surrounding him.
-The immediate past President of the United States
had to pardon his campaign manager,
had to pardon his longest- standing political adviser,
had to pardon his national security adviser,
had to pardon his foreign policy adviser,
had to pardon the deputy chair of his inaugural,
and his deputy campaign chairman went to prison,
and his personal lawyer went to prison,
and his other personal lawyer is
under federal criminal investigation,
and he himself personally is named by prosecutors
as an unindicted coconspirator in multiple federal felonies.
And he himself personally is currently, as we speak,
under active criminal investigation in two states.
-it's just basic logic that if you're surrounded
at all times by that many criminals,
there's a solid chance you're also a criminal.
You never hear someone onstage at a concert say,
"That's Doug on the bass; give it up for Russell
on rhythm guitar; that's Mick on lead;
that's Billy on keyboards;
and me, oh, I'm not in a band. I don't do music.
Those guys do. Not me."
But we're in an unprecedented situation,
where the previous president is under at least two
criminal investigations in two different states,
one of which has now reached the grand-jury stage.
If Obama were under investigation,
we'd be talking about that, too, but he's not.
The only news Obama makes these days is showbiz-related.
In fact, if you hear about Obama investigations,
it's probably a new show on HBO Max.
Fingers crossed, it doesn't take place in Philly, too.
"Now, I'm gonna tell you who the killer is.
But, first, I need a glass of, uh, 'wooder.'"
[ Laughter ]
As for Trump, the only news he makes today is
what he issues in an official statement,
calling a horse a junkie, or when one of
the criminal investigations on him takes a big step.
And that's what we learned last night.
-We've got breaking news in a criminal probe
into the Trump Organization.
"The Washington Post" just breaking the news
that the Manhattan district attorney
has convened a grand jury
that could weigh potential criminal charges
against former President Trump and his associates.
From that "Washington Post" report,
the move indicates that district attorney Cyrus Vance's
investigation of the former President and his business
has reached an advanced stage, after more than two years.
It suggests, too, that Vance believes
he has found evidence of a crime,
if not by Trump, then by someone potentially close
to him or by his company.
-I mean, I'm just shocked it took two years.
Trump has arguably confessed to multiple crimes in public,
incited a violent insurrection, been impeached twice,
was an unindicted coconspirator in a hush-money case,
paid just $750 in federal Income taxes
while he was president, and did everything possible
to hide his taxes from public view.
At this point, I wouldn't be shocked if it turned out
he tried to claim a deduction for a bribe.
I mean, what else do we need, Trump to show up
to a Fox interview with a shovel
and a shirt that says, "I love burying bodies"?
But, of course, Trump is the last guy
you'd want to trust burying a body.
Based on this video, you'd be lucky
if he covered part of one hand.
"Did you fully cover him, Donny?"
"I mean, I think I got it pretty good.
I mean, I'd be a little worried if they had dogs."
So, there's a grand jury now. That's news.
But, again, I'm not getting my hopes up.
Remember how many times we thought
Trump was on the verge of going down?
Remember how everybody at your gym
was working out in "Mueller Time" T-shirt,
and now Goodwill won't even take them?
Trump always manages to wriggle out of a jam.
He's like the David Blaine of crime.
If he ever goes to trial, he'll just regurgitate a frog
that has "not guilty" written on its back.
If the feds come for him, he'll hide out
in a glass box over the Thames.
That said, we do know that even before
this latest news, there have been
some pretty serious developments in this case.
The Manhattan D.A. got Trump's taxes,
the New York state attorney general
joined the criminal case, and prosecutors met
with Trump's former fixer, Michael Cohen,
at least eight times. I mean, I bet
they got everything they needed the first time
and then just kept bringing him back for the zingers.
-I think Donald Trump is gonna flip on all of them.
What do you think about that? Including his children.
So he's gonna turn on his accountant
and point the finger. He's gonna say,
"Don Jr. Handled that, Ivanka handled that.
Melania -- Don't take me, take Melania."
-Man, Michael Cohen is just a totally different guy now.
Loose, confident, laughing it up, having fun.
He used to be the terrifying mob-style bag man,
and now he's coming off like a shipwrecked Ray Romano.
"Oh, I don't know, Trump would say,
I don't know, 'Ah, fix this for me.'
I-I-I can't. You know, I got a tee time.
[ Laughter ] "Raymond."
You know? [ Laughter ]
Oh, you can't write the Brad Garrett impression in,
Dave. [ Laughter ]
I also totally believe
that Trump would throw his family under the bus.
You think he named his eldest son after himself
for sentimental reasons? He did it so there'd be
a second Donald Trump to pin the blame on.
"He's the one you want.
That's why he's hiding out in the woods."
I mean, look at that. They caught him
because he waited for someone else to come
and build him a Unabomber cabin.
And I have no trouble believing he'd flip on Melania, too.
"Mel! Mel, the feds are here.
They want to know why you committed all that tax fraud.
She'll be right down. Just give her a second.
Mel, why are you flushing the toilet?
Is it evidence, Mel?
I know you don't go potty when people are in the house.
She loves destroying evidence. That's a serious charge, too.
She's gonna go away for a while, huh?
I'm gonna miss her. Mel?
I hope -- Those are big handcuffs.
They're gonna come right off her lady wrists.
Oh, no, are those for me?"
[ Laughter ]
But Cohen is actually a key figure here,
because, as you may recall, he testified to Congress
that Trump had lied about the value of his properties
for tax or insurance purposes.
Cohen even named specific people in the Trump Organization
with knowledge of Trump's practices.
-To your knowledge, did the president ever
provide inflated assets to an insurance company?
-Yes.
-Who else knows that the president did this?
-Allen Weisselberg, Ron Lieberman,
and Matthew Calamari.
-Remember that, you guys, when we all found out
about the existence of a guy named Matthew Calamari?
A name that sounds like a Super Mario rip-off
your grandma would buy at the dollar store?
That's his actual name. When I first heard it,
I thought it was a Mafia nickname,
like "Paulie Walnuts." "This is a guy,
Matthew D'Angelo, AKA Matthew Calamari."
Sounds like a character that got cut
from the "SpongeBob" musical.
I have no idea who Matthew Calamari is,
but based on his name alone, I can tell the feds
exactly where to find him -- slipping $6 in singles
to the maître d' at Del Frisco's
to get a table by the air-conditioner.
"Hey, let's not have fried Calamari tonight, alright?"
The other guy Cohen mentioned there is
Trump's money man, Allen Weisselberg,
the chief financial officer of the Trump Organization.
The prosecutors are apparently focused on Weisselberg.
And when asked if he would potentially flip on Trump,
Weisselberg's ex-daughter-in-law, who has said
she's also cooperated with the investigation,
did not hesitate.
-One person now cooperating with the investigations
into Weisselberg and the Trump Organization
is on your screen there --
Allen Weisselberg's former daughter-in-law, Jennifer,
who was married to Weisselberg's son Barry
for 14 years, until their divorce in 2018.
Jennifer Weisselberg's lawyer says she has
25 years of financial records,
some of which have been subpoenaed.
Will Allen Weisselberg flip on Trump?
-Yes.
-wow,
I mean, no hesitation at all with your answer there.
-No hesitation at all?
I'm guessing, when you work for Trump,
you start thinking about flipping
as soon as you get the gig. It's like when you're
in the middle of a job interview at Little Caesars
and you're already fantasizing about how you're gonna quit.
"You can take this job and shove it, shove it."
[ Laughter ]
"Trump's inner circle flips
more than the short-order cook at IHOP."
Hey, here's the thing, guys.
You want to take away my Vince Vaughn,
you're gonna get a little Dennis Miller
and a little Ray Romano. That's the trade-off.
I'm not gonna just stop with the impressions,
because -- guess what? -- I don't like my voice that much.
[ Laughter ]
Cohen went on to explain that Trump...
[ Laughter ]
Cohen went on to explain that Trump deflated
the value of his assets in order to avoid paying taxes on them.
-To your knowledge, was the president interested
in reducing his local real-estate bills -- tax bills?
-Yes. -And how did he do that?
-What you do is you deflate the value of the asset,
and then you put in a request to the tax department
for a deduction.
-"Trump's assets are more deflated
than a lawn Santa on January 10th."
[ Laughter ]
"Raymond, I don't get it." [ Laughter ]
There's a good chance that Cohen's testimony was
the first time Trump heard that scheme explained
in such specific detail. "That's how you do it?
Oh, well, that sounds very illegal."
And according to "The Washington Post,"
that's precisely one of the things
prosecutors are looking into.
-His investigators are scrutinizing
Trump's business practices before he was president,
including whether the value of specific properties
in the Trump Organization's real-estate portfolio
were manipulated in a way
that defrauded banks and insurance companies
and if any tax benefits were obtained illegally
through unscrupulous asset valuation.
-In addition to being a potential crime,
unscrupulous asset valuation sounds like
something Trump would put under "interests" on his Tinder bio.
You know, one thing I've always thought was so funny
about Trump's legal troubles is,
that if Trump hadn't run for president,
he probably would have gotten away with all of this stuff --
defrauding banks, deflating assets.
Rich people get away with that stuff all the time.
And the banks just shrug and raise our ATM fees.
No one cared about Trump's tax returns
when he was just a cable news blowhard
who called in to "Fox & Friends" to shoot the [Bleep]
or spent his time tweeting about Diet Coke.
But Trump had to go and run for president like a moron
and attract the attention of prosecutors
scrutinizing every aspect of his life and business,
which is not a good idea
when you're famously a corrupt real-estate mogul
and reality-show host, surrounded by shady characters.
Like, I don't want to make any assumptions,
but if Mystery the pickup artist ran for president,
I'm pretty sure they'd find some weird stuff
in his tax returns, too.
Hey, mystery, under "Income," it just says,
"Women love the scent of confidence."
What does that mean?
"It means Venus is the goddess of love."
Okay, and under "Assets," all you have listed are
a bunch of puka shell necklaces?
"And?" [ Laughter ]
This is an unprecedented situation.
Virtually the entirety of one of our two political parties
has devoted itself to a corrupt ex-president
who is currently under
an intensifying criminal investigation
which has now reached the grand-jury stage.
Trump is talking about running for president again in 2024,
but if he's in jail, he might have to tell the GOP...
-"Don't take me, take Melania."
-This has been "A Closer Look."
[ Theme music plays ]
God's Love We Deliver cooks and brings
over 2 million meals a year to men, women, and children
living with HIV/AIDS, cancer, and other serious illnesses,
and they need your help now more than ever.
If you're watching this online, you can hit the Donate button.
Stay safe, wear a mask, get vaccinated.
We love you.