Trump Org CFO Allen Weisselberg Granted Immunity

Allen Weisselberg, who has long served as Chief Financial Officer for the Trump Organization, has been granted immunity by federal prosecutors as part of the Michael Cohen investigation.

Kevin Breuninger and Tucker Higgins at CNBC report:

Weisselberg was subpoenaed by prosecutors earlier this year to testify before a grand jury as part of that probe.

News of Weisselberg's immunity deal follows a Thursday report that David Pecker, the chairman of publishing giant American Media, had also received federal immunity as part of the Cohen investigation. It will escalate pressure on the president, who was implicated in a number of crimes that Cohen pleaded guilty to on Tuesday in New York federal court.

Cohen admitted that he had facilitated unlawful payments to two women at Trump's direction in order to keep unfavorable information about the president, who at the time was still a candidate, from becoming public. Pecker shared information about the payments with prosecutors in exchange for immunity, including details about the president's knowledge of the payments.

Trump and his attorneys have denied any wrongdoing.

Of course they have.

So, in a country where things still mattered, this would definitely be a very big deal. Unfortunately, we live in a country where the Republican Party is, at least at this point, still doing the utmost to make sure nothing matters anymore.

Weisselberg and Pecker and Cohen form a formidable trio of adversaries for Donald Trump, if they are actually prepared to tell prosecutors where the proverbial bodies are buried. All of it will surely end up in Special Counsel Bob Mueller's confidential report, which will be delivered to Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, who will then decide whether the public gets to see any or all of it, and who will pass it on to Congress, where it will presumably die a quick death as long as Republicans still hold the majority.

Unless something prompts them to do the right thing. Or what might appear to be the right thing (holding Trump accountable) for the wrong reasons (installing Mike Pence to do his worst as an unfettered authoritarian).

I haven't yet given up hope that all of this could matter. It is a dim hope, but it flickers yet.

Still. I'm not breaking out the GIFs of people eating popcorn, either.

Let us fervently hope and expect that prosecutors will do their jobs diligently, that these corrupt men will be compelled to tell the thorough truth, and that the people empowered to protect this nation from enemies will decide to do precisely that, even and especially if that enemy is the president.