By Rachel Schilke, Breaking News Reporter. Media: Washington Examiner.
Former President Donald Trump resolved one of his many legal battles on Thursday after a New York county prosecutor closed a multiyear investigation into tax irregularities.
Westchester County District Attorney Mimi Rocah closed her investigation looking into whether Trump and his company misled authorities to reduce taxes on owned properties, particularly his golf courses. Rocah did not file any charges against Trump or his company, the Trump Organization.
Rocah said in a statement via the Associated Press that she reached the decision after an investigation that was conducted āobjectively and independent of politics, party affiliation, and personal or political beliefs.”
The investigation began in 2021 after Rocah suspected Trump or his company provided officials with misleading values to shrink the tax bill on his Trump National Golf Club in Briarcliff Manor. Rocah had subpoenaed records from the golf course and Ossining, the town that handles the golf course’s taxes.
The Trump Organization once valued the golf course for tax purposes at about $1.4 million, later increasing its estimate to $6.5 million. For years, however, the town valued it at more than $15 million. Eventually, a New York judge agreed to cut the assessment to $9.5 million in 2021, triggering refunds to the company of about $875,000 for overcharges on its back taxes.
Trump wrote on Truth Social on Thursday that ending the investigation was āthe 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?ā
Rocah said in a Thursday interview with CBS News that she wanted to prove there were still “independent prosecutors” left in the country.
“Itās really important, more important than ever in our country, to make sure that people understand that we have independent prosecutors, we have a justice system that operates independent of politics,ā Rocah said.
āI can stand here and proudly say that Iām one of those prosecutors, and I look at every subject of any investigation, every organization thatās a subject of an investigation, the same way,ā Rocah continued.
This is a rare win for the former president, who is facing both state and federal indictments and investigations relating to his business dealings and misconduct while he was leaving the White House after losing the 2020 election.
Trump was arraigned on Tuesday on 37 counts of federal criminal charges relating to his alleged mishandling of classified documents, several involving violations of the Espionage Act. He pleaded not guilty to all charges in a Miami courthouse.
The former president was indicted and arraigned on 33 counts of falsifying business records in April by a Manhattan grand jury as a result of District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s investigation into hush money payments made to adult film star Stormy Daniels during the 2016 presidential election.
He also is facing several state-level investigations in New York and Georgia, as well as a Justice Department special counsel investigation into Trump’s actions during and after the 2020 election that led to the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol.
The Briarcliff Manor golf club’s taxes will show up again in New York Attorney General Letitia James’s civil lawsuit case against Trump and his adult children. They are accused of inflating the value of assets to mislead investors and associates at several properties, including hotels and golf clubs.