Welcome to The Uprising, an unconventional politics newsletter. If you enjoyed this story and want to read more like it, please sign up!

Get 20% off for 1 year

On Wednesday evening, news broke that a grand jury has indicted the Trump Organization and its chief financial officer, Alan Weisselberg. The charges, which are not yet public, are part of an investigation being conducted by Manhattan District Attorney Cy Vance and New York State Attorney General Tish James. Based on what The Uprising is hearing from sources, these charges are only the beginning of a series of actions that will target former President Trump’s namesake real estate company. 

A source, who requested anonymity and declined to be quoted directly due to the sensitivity of the case, said the investigation is very much ongoing and described these charges as a piece of a larger puzzle. The New York Times reported the indictment will likely be unsealed on Thursday afternoon and said it stems from a tax investigation into fringe benefits offered by the company including luxury cars and private school tuition. Other issues have been part of the prosecutors’ inquiries. Both the district attorney and attorney general have also focused on property valuations made by the organization. The district attorney, attorney general, and Trump Organization did not respond to requests for comment.

Weisselberg, a man who has worked with Trump for decades, reportedly turned himself in on Thursday morning. He is one of the senior most executives in the company and is intimately familiar with its finances. Weisselberg has faced intense pressure from prosecutors to cooperate with probes into the Trump Organization in recent years. His son’s ex-wife is participating in the district attorney’s investigation. Prosecutors have also applied pressure to Weisselberg by subpoenaing his personal financial records and information from the school his grandchildren attended. 

In 2018, Weisselberg received immunity from federal prosecutors in exchange for testimony in the Michael Cohen case. During the Cohen case, your humble Uprising correspondent and the great Luppe B. Luppen of the Paw Prints newsletter wrote a piece looking at how valuable Weisselberg’s cooperation could be for prosecutors interested in Trump’s finances. In that piece, a source familiar with the Trump Organization described Weisselberg as involved in every aspect of the company’s business. 

“Every bill went through him,” the source said.

READING RAINBOW: I keep waiting for a relatively slow news day for this announcement, but it just hasn’t happened. Oh well! The Uprising is launching a book club!

This will be the first exclusive event for subscribers and founding members! It will feature Anna Merlan discussing her book “Republic Of Lies,” which chronicles the rise of the new American conspiracy politics. Merlan is a reporter at VICE whose work I have long admired. This book is a perfect vehicle to examine some of the forces shaking the political landscape in the January 6 era. I will have a virtual chat with Merlan about her book on July 21 at 7pm.

Founding members will be able to watch the conversation live and submit discussions. All paid subscribers will have access to a video of the discussion. The rest of you are out of luck!

If you’d like to read the book along with me ahead of the event, you can get a copy at this link or your favorite local independent bookstore. I plan to have these book club discussions on a monthly-ish basis. If you haven’t subscribed yet and want to join in on the conversation, it’s a great time to take advantage of the summer sale! 

Get 20% off for 1 year

FUN FACT: Noted conspiracy theorist Lyndon LaRouche, who died in 2019, ran for president eight separate times. LaRouche, who railed against various ethnic groups, the British Empire, Jews, and rock music was famous for being linked to a wide array of organizations that helped promote his political efforts and distribute his pamphlets including the “Children of Satan” series. His final three presidential campaigns came after he served time in federal prison for financial crimes. 

CORRECTION: The initial version of this story said Weisselberg’s ex-wife was cooperating with prosecutors. It’s actually the ex-wife of his son, Barry. It’s hard to keep track of divorces! Your friendly correspondent regrets the error, which was corrected at 11:11 am. Make a wish!

This might not be it for today! There an extra news item coming that will hit your inboxes this morning. It will exclusively be available for subscribers. 

After that, I am headed to the beach and will (try) to be shut down until later next week. Please subscribe to The Uprising and tell your friends! And if you work in politics, please don’t forget to leave a (news) tip on your way out → hunter.walker@protonmail.com