On June 15, 2023, Westchester County District Attorney Mimi Rocah announced the completion of a multiyear investigation into the Trump Organization’s valuations of the Trump National Golf Club in Briarcliff Manor, New York. After an extensive investigation, no charges were filed against the former President Donald Trump or his company.
Rocah, a Soros Democrat, opened her investigation in 2021 to investigate whether Trump or the Trump Organization had provided false or deceptive information regarding the property’s value in order to minimize the tax bill on the golf club. Despite her claims of acting independently and without consideration of politics, the investigation came at a time when Trump was still the sitting president.
The investigation was conducted by former assistant U.S. Attorney Elliott Jacobson, who came out of retirement to serve as special prosecutor for the Westchester County DA. After working part-time as a volunteer for Rocah’s office for two years, he concluded his service in November 2022. The Trump Organization had recently valued the property at $1.4 million for tax purposes, but the town of Ossining had valued it at more than $15 million, leading to a settlement in 2021 which set the assessment of the golf club at $9.5 million.
However, the investigation into Trump’s finances, and more specifically the Trump Organization’s valuations, failed to yield any evidence of criminal wrongdoing. Thursday’s announcement closes one chapter of an ongoing saga of federal and state criminal investigations targeting Trump’s financial conduct which have been ongoing since the former president left office.
“AFTER GOING THROUGH A CRIMINAL INVESTIGATION FOR TWO YEARS BY THE DISTRICT ATTORNEYS OFFICE IN WESTCHESTER COUNTY, NEW YORK, IT WAS JUST ANNOUNCED THAT THE CASE HAS BEEN DROPPED, AND NO CHARGES WILL BE FILED,” Trump posted on his Truth Social platform Thursday evening. “THIS WAS THE HONORABLE THING TO DO IN THAT I DID NOTHING WRONG, BUT WHERE AND WHEN DO I GET MY REPUTATION BACK? WHEN WILL THE OTHER FAKE CASES AGAINST ME BE DROPPED? ELECTION INTERFERENCE!!!”
Though the Trump Organization was cleared of any criminal allegations in this case, the witch hunt continues due to other unrelated cases. Specifically, he recently pleaded not guilty in a Miami courtroom to 37 federal charges stemming from Special Counsel Jack Smith’s investigation and not guilty to state charges in New York in relation to Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s investigation.
