Like You’ve Never Seen Before: The Trump Organization, the real estate and business empire founded by former President Donald Trump, and his chief financial officer, were charged in indictments opened yesterday outlining a 15-year scheme of paying executives off the books with undeclared benefits to avoid taxes.

  The Manhattan district attorney’s office accuses Trump’s CFO, Allen Weisselberg, 74, with failure to pay taxes on $1.7 million in perks that should have been reported as income. One of Trump’s longest-serving insiders, Weisselberg faces charges of grand larceny and tax fraud. He’s accused of failing to pay taxes on leased Mercedes-Benzes, bonuses, and an apartment paid for by the company. 

  At the same time, the Trump Organization was writing off those benefits as tax deductible business expenses.

  “To put it bluntly, this was a sweeping and audacious illegal payments scheme,” Carey Dunne, general counsel for the Manhattan district attorney, said when the defendants appeared for their arraignment in State Supreme Court in Manhattan.

  The indictment says, “During the period of the scheme, Weisselberg thereby evaded approximately $556,385 in federal taxes, approximately $106,568 in state taxes, and approximately $238,159 in New York City taxes, and he falsely claimed and received approximately $94,902 in federal tax refunds and approximately $38,222 in state tax refunds, to which he was not entitled.” 

  Weisselberg pleaded not guilty while lawyers for the Trump Organization said in a statement that the case was “brought because the companies’ name is Trump.” 

  Trump was not charged but his fate might depend on whether Weisselberg stays loyal, like a member of the Mafia, or starts talking. People familiar with the Trump organization says no one does anything without Trump’s nod. If that’s true, and they were dodging taxes, he was part of the scheme.

  Trump immediately took on the mantle of victimhood, issuing a statement saying, “The political Witch Hunt by the Radical Left Democrats, with New York now taking over the assignment, continues. It is dividing our Country like never before!” 

Voting and the Right: As Republican legislatures pass laws increasingly restricting voting rights and how their citizens may vote, the Supreme Court yesterday upheld Arizona’s restrictions by a  6-3 majority. The court’s three liberals were the only votes against.

  Writing for the majority, Justice Samuel Alito said the states have a legitimate interest in rooting out and preventing fraud. “Fraud can affect the outcome of a close election, and fraudulent votes dilute the right of citizens to cast ballots that carry appropriate weight,” he wrote. 

  The trouble is none of the states passing these restrictive laws have identified enough fraud to affect the vote for dog catcher. In dissent, Justice Elena Kagan wrote that the majority damaged the landmark 1965 Voting Rights Act. “Wherever it can, the majority gives a cramped reading to broad language,” she wrote. “And then it uses that reading to uphold two election laws from Arizona that discriminate against minority voters.”

Condo Collapse: Search and rescue operations on the rubble pile of the Surfside, Florida condominium building were paused for 14 hours yesterday because of fears of a further collapse.  Tropical Storm Elsa, gathering hundreds of miles off the Florida coast, also presents a threat to the operation.

  Searchers are slowly finding the dead, but no survivors. This morning, 18 are confirmed dead and 145 unaccounted for.

  President Biden visited Florida and had a closed meeting with families of the missing. Reports that leaked out said Biden, a veteran of personal loss, told them, “No matter what the outcome, the people you love, the people you may have lost, they’re going to be with you always. Part of your soul. Part of who you are.” 

Another World: In a continued denial of the severity of the January 6^th Capitol insurrection, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy threatened to strip party members of their committee assignments if they accept a spot on  the new select committee to investigate the riot. Republican Rep. Liz Cheney has already been chosen to serve.

 Cheney was previously removed from the Republican House leadership after challenging Donald Trump’s claims that the election was stolen. 

  The Republicans are clearly afraid of Trump’s supporters — and the truth about the insurrection. Meanwhile, new video from the insurrection is being used as evidence for more arrests.

  The New York Times put together a stunning video narrative of the insurrection with material taken from cops and participants. Watch it here.

Withdrawal: The US has abandoned Bagram Air Base, the slice of America established forty miles north of the capital Kabul in Afghanistan. The sprawling military installation had American fast food chains inside its gates as well as Afghan shops just outside catering to the US troops and locals who worked there. It was the heart of American operations in Afghanistan for nearly 20 years.

  As the US pulls out, the dreaded Taliban are moving back in. They now control about a third of the country.

 The Spin Rack: JD Vance, author of the best-selling book “Hillbilly Elegy,” is running as a Republican for the Senate from Ohio. — California has set Sept. 14 as the  date for the recall election targeting Gov. Gavin Newsom. Newsom, one of the smartest and most humane politicians in America, is expected to survive the election. — The Chinese communist party is celebrating its 100^th anniversary with 300 operas, ballets, plays, musical compositions, and other works presented all over the country. 

The Rich Are Different: Once there was a race between the US and Soviet Union to be the first in space. Now it’s the billionaire space race. Virgin records billionaire Richard Branson now plans later this month to beat Amazon’s Jeff Bezos into space by about a week.

  Branson said in a video, “I’ve always been a dreamer. My mum taught me to never give up and to reach for the stars.” 

  Bezos, on the other hand, auctioned off a seat on his flight for $28 million.

-30-