The investigation has mainly focused on the perks that Mr. Trump and his company gave Mr. Weisselberg, and other executives. This includes tens of thousand dollars in tuition for a private school for one of his grandchildren, and rents on apartments and car leasings for him and he wife. The prosecutors have leverage over Mr. Weisselberg as they pursue his cooperation in their wider investigation into Trump Organization.After months of pressure on Mr. Weisselberg, the prosecutors have begun to investigate whether Trump Organization misled its ledgers about the benefits and failed to pay payroll taxes for what should have been taxable income. These types of benefits are generally taxable. However, there are exceptions and murky rules.Mary E. Mulligan (a lawyer for Mr. Weisselberg) declined to comment on the investigation.Not only Mr. Weisselberg was a senior company executive who received perks. According to sources familiar with the practice, employees were provided with Mercedes-Benz vehicles up until 2018, when the company reduced the benefits.According to someone familiar with the matter, lawyers for Donald Trump and his company are currently preparing to ask a judge to dismiss any indictment. They plan to claim that there is no evidence that employees failed to pay taxes benefit the company.It is not clear if Mr. Trump will face criminal charges. People familiar with the matter say that the ongoing investigation into Trump has looked at whether Trump Organization used the value of its properties in order to get tax benefits and loans.This was not the first meeting Mr. Trump's lawyers had in recent days with Mr. Vances. According to several people familiar, the lawyers met on Thursday with senior prosecutors to try to stop any plans to charge the company. Ronald P. Fischetti was Mr. Trump's personal lawyer. He was a former law partner for Mark F. Pomerantz (a former federal prosecutor, defense lawyer and attorney whom the district attorneys office recruited to lead the investigation into Mr. Trump's business.
