Allen Weisselberg, the former chief financial officer of the Trump Organization currently incarcerated at Rikers Island, recently switched lawyers amid ongoing investigations into former President Donald Trump and his business.
The reason for the switch is in dispute.
Some people familiar with the relationship said the Trump Org. would no longer foot the bill for Weisselberg’s attorney, who clashed with company officials over the legal advice he provided to the ex-CFO concerning his level of cooperation with prosecutors investigating the former president. But a Trump attorney said it was a personal decision that Weisselberg made with his family and others, and that the company had no role in the change.
Weisselberg has retained Seth Rosenberg, who is being paid by the Trump Org., about three weeks ago. Rosenberg did not respond to requests for comment.
Weisselberg had been represented by New York criminal defense attorney Nicholas Gravante, who obtained a plea deal that required Weisselberg to serve only five months in jail for pleading guilty to a decade-long tax fraud scheme.
The split with Gravante comes as Trump and his company face several ongoing criminal investigations.
Earlier this month, Trump was notified that he could be indicted on criminal charges related to a hush money payment made to silence adult-film star Stormy Daniels from going public ahead of the 2016 election about an alleged affair a decade earlier. (Trump has denied the affair.)
The Trump Org. also is facing an ongoing criminal investigation into the accuracy of its financial records, although it is not clear how active that inquiry is.
There is no indication that Weisselberg, who is imprisoned at Rikers Island, is cooperating with the new investigations. Weisselberg has worked for the Trump family for about 50 years beginning under…
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