Trump Took 'Risky Gamble' With Rally Quips About Company's Indictment, NYT Reporter Says

Former President Donald Trump took a risky gamble with his recent remarks about the multi-felony indictment against his company and a top executive of the firm, New York Times reporter Maggie Haberman told CNN Monday.

Trumps playbook in dealing with accusations is: Im just going to repeat the charges out loud and say theres nothing wrong with it, say that everybody does it, said Haberman. The difference here is an indictment has been filed.

Haberman also said that Trump is still under investigation and he no longer has a shield against prosecution that he had as president.

Hes taking a risky gamble right now, she said.

Trump appeared to concede that a number of the points in the indictment were true during his rally in Sarasota, Florida on Saturday. But he indicated that not paying taxes on what he called fringe benefits was no big deal and that hes not even certain its illegal.

According to the federal indictment filed last Thursday against the Trump Organization and chief financial officer Allen Weisselberg , a company car, a Manhattan apartment and private school tuition were provided in lieu of a portion of Weisselbergs salary as part of an allegedly fraudulent scheme in which the Trump Organization dodged payroll taxes and Weisselberg shirked income taxes.

ICYMI during his rally last night in Sarasota, Trump basically admitted to Trump Organization tax violations: They go after good, hard-working people for not paying taxes on a company car ... I don't even know. Do you have to? Does anybody know the answer to that stuff? pic.twitter.com/amWdbCfrmi

Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) July 4, 2021","type":"rich","meta":{"author":"Aaron Rupar","author_url":"https://twitter.com/atrupar","cache_age":86400,"description":"ICYMI during his rally last night in Sarasota, Trump basically admitted to Trump Organization tax violations: They go after good, hard-working people for not paying taxes on a company car ... I don't even know. Do you have to? Does anybody know the answer to that stuff? pic.twitter.com/amWdbCfrmi Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) July 4, 2021\n\n","options":{"_hide_media":{"label":"Hide photos, videos, and cards","value":false},"_maxwidth":{"label":"Adjust width","placeholder":"220-550, in px","value":""},"_theme":{"value":"","values":{"dark":"Use dark theme"}}},"provider_name":"Twitter","thumbnail_height":675,"thumbnail_url":"https://pbs.twimg.com/ext_tw_video_thumb/1411686923140317187/pu/img/IWNyx2i2AcWG1Bx-.jpg","thumbnail_width":1200,"title":"Aaron Rupar on Twitter","type":"rich","url":"https://twitter.com/atrupar/status/1411687003649892353","version":"1.0"},"flags":[],"enhancements":{},"fullBleed":false,"options":{"theme":"news","device":"mobile","editionInfo":{"id":"us","name":"U.S.","link":"https://action.news","locale":"en_US"},"originalEdition":"us","isMapi":false,"isAmp":false,"isVideoEntry":false,"isEntry":true,"isMt":false,"entryId":"60e37f29e4b0e01b6b218a77","entryPermalink":"https://action.news/entry/trump-risky-tax-comments-cnn-maggie-haberman_n_60e37f29e4b0e01b6b218a77","entryTagsList":"donald-trump,trump-organization,trump-taxes,maggie-haberman","sectionSlug":"politics","deptSlug":"politics-news","sectionRedirectUrl":null,"subcategories":"","isWide":false,"headerOverride":null,"noVideoAds":false,"disableFloat":false,"isNative":false,"commercialVideo":{"provider":"custom","site_and_category":"us.politics","package":null},"isHighline":false,"vidibleConfigValues":{"cid":"60afc111dcf87c2cd2f5d8bf","overrides":{"front_page_top_videos":{"desktop":"60b64354b171b7444beaff4d","mobileweb":"60b64354b171b7444beaff4d"},"top_media":{"desktop":"60b8e6bdc5449357a7ada147","mobile":"60b8e701c5449357a7ada2ee","iphone":"60b8e643cdd90620331bb1f6","ipad":"60b8e643cdd90620331bb1f6","androidphone":"60b8e699c5449357a7ada04c","androidtablet":"60b8e699c5449357a7ada04c"},"anthology":{"desktop":"60b8e616cdd90620331bb0ba","mobile":"60b8e671c5449357a7ad9f66","iphone":"60b8e643cdd90620331bb1f6","ipad":"60b8e643cdd90620331bb1f6","androidphone":"60b8e699c5449357a7ada04c","androidtablet":"60b8e699c5449357a7ada04c"},"content":{"desktop":"60b8e616cdd90620331bb0ba","mobile":"60b8e671c5449357a7ad9f66","iphone":"60b8e643cdd90620331bb1f6","ipad":"60b8e643cdd90620331bb1f6","androidphone":"60b8e699c5449357a7ada04c","androidtablet":"60b8e699c5449357a7ada04c"}},"playerUpdates":{"5668ae6ee4b0b5e26955d6a6":"60d2472d9340d7032ad7e443","56aa41bae4b091744c0440d8":"60e869dc7c5f3b17b6741b81","5841b2b5cc52c716ec6e5a7f":"60b8e355cdd90620331ba185","58b5e2b8d85a10302feee895":"60b64316b171b7444beafdb2","58b74698f78ced31417819ae":"60b8e5bec5449357a7ad9b52","58b74ccecebcea57e2c3a3d1":"60b8e5eac5449357a7ad9ca5","58cff690d85a100b9992bc39":"60b8e616cdd90620331bb0ba","58cffb3fb6d9b972a49a3c9d":"60b8e643cdd90620331bb1f6","58cffdd74d96935d7d6ec180":"60b8e671c5449357a7ad9f66","58d03a84f78ced6518eb2fa7":"60b643c82e76be41f112735c","592edf20e0fa177b0c26f7fd":"60b8e699c5449357a7ada04c","5b35266b158f855373e28256":"60b64354b171b7444beaff4d","5c116f29f79c4171d82b7c2a":"60b64440b171b7444beb040b","5c1170fc600c9a697bf0c6b9":"60b646102e76be41f1127ffc","5c47791afa1b317df8ae0c4f":"60b8e6bdc5449357a7ada147","5c477987a6b48b35f164773d":"60b8e701c5449357a7ada2ee","5c4779ee943c3c2a64f28371":"60b8e747cdd90620331bb861","5c477a26fcd67b26879bc7c2":"60b8e788c5449357a7ada67b","5d8921a78c3ae845f366c9b6":"60ae7be5f3a7c13a30417ff9","58b98b00ba82aa39a6534321":"60d0de7c9340d7032ad1146c","58b9d14cb6d9b96c9ec32af3":"60d0dec19340d7032ad115a0","58cff8eccebcea42931e0436":"60d0e005b627221e9d819d44","592edf5de0fa177b0c26f95b":"60d0e38fb627221e9d81adcf","58cff72fd85a100b9992c112":"60d0e447b627221e9d81b0da","56b4d34fe4b022697697c400":"60d2472d9340d7032ad7e443","60b8e4c0c5449357a7ad957d":"60e869dc7c5f3b17b6741b81"}},"connatixConfigValues":{"defaultPlayer":"ff7fdddc-5441-4253-abc4-f12a33fad58b","clickToPlayPlayer":"d014396e-b366-4c17-aeac-3ce906fa3fd0","videoPagePlayer":"f010447b-d244-4111-a314-7b4542ae4145","verticalPlayer":"e58cb05a-0bc8-4210-9108-fea82726c065","stickyPlayerControl":"52ea1755-d601-4ad1-bccc-d8cce3f0e5da","stickyPlayerON":"8055e9e5-3bda-4933-8d45-9ad814fb6e22"},"topConnatixThumnbailSrc":"data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAEAAAABCAQAAAC1HAwCAAAAC0lEQVR42mNkYAAAAAYAAjCB0C8AAAAASUVORK5CYII=","customAmpComponents":[],"ampAssetsUrl":"https://amp.assets.huffpost.com","videoTraits":null,"positionInUnitCounts":{"buzz_head":{"count":0},"buzz_body":{"count":0},"buzz_bottom":{"count":0}},"positionInSubUnitCounts":{"article_body":{"count":9},"blog_summary":{"count":0},"before_you_go_content":{"count":0}},"connatixCountsHelper":{"count":0},"buzzfeedTracking":{"context_page_id":"60e37f29e4b0e01b6b218a77","context_page_type":"buzz","destination":"huffpost","mode":"mobile","page_edition":"en-us"},"tags":[{"name":"Donald Trump","slug":"donald-trump","links":{"relativeLink":"topic/donald-trump","permalink":"https://action.news/topic/donald-trump","mobileWebLink":"https://action.news/topic/donald-trump"},"department":{"name":"Latest News","slug":"politics-news"},"section":{"title":"Politics","slug":"politics"},"topic":{"title":"Donald Trump","slug":"donald-trump","overridesSectionLabel":false},"url":"https://action.news/news/topic/donald-trump"},{"name":"trump organization","slug":"trump-organization","links":{"relativeLink":"topic/trump-organization","permalink":"https://action.news/topic/trump-organization","mobileWebLink":"https://action.news/topic/trump-organization"},"department":{"name":"Latest News","slug":"politics-news"},"section":{"title":"Politics","slug":"politics"},"topic":{"title":"Donald Trump","slug":"donald-trump","overridesSectionLabel":false},"url":"https://action.news/news/topic/donald-trump"},{"name":"trump taxes","slug":"trump-taxes","links":{"relativeLink":"topic/trump-taxes","permalink":"https://action.news/topic/trump-taxes","mobileWebLink":"https://action.news/topic/trump-taxes"},"url":"https://action.news/topic/trump-taxes"},{"name":"Maggie Haberman","slug":"maggie-haberman","links":{"relativeLink":"topic/maggie-haberman","permalink":"https://action.news/topic/maggie-haberman","mobileWebLink":"https://action.news/topic/maggie-haberman"},"url":"https://action.news/topic/maggie-haberman"}],"isLiveblogLive":null,"isLiveblog":false,"cetUnit":"buzz_body","bodyAds":["

\r\n\r\n","

\r\n\r\n"],"adCount":0},"isCollectionEmbed":false}">

ICYMI during his rally last night in Sarasota, Trump basically admitted to Trump Organization tax violations: They go after good, hard-working people for not paying taxes on a company car ... I don't even know. Do you have to? Does anybody know the answer to that stuff? pic.twitter.com/amWdbCfrmi
Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) July 4, 2021

What Trump did at the rally was acknowledge that he made these payments.

Most lawyers would tell somebody connected to a case like this the less you say the better, Haberman said. Thats just never his style.

Your Support Has Never Been More Critical

Other news outlets have retreated behind paywalls. At HuffPost, we believe journalism should be free for everyone.

Would you help us provide essential information to our readers during this critical time? We can't do it without you.

Can't afford to contribute? Support HuffPost by creating a free account and log in while you read.

You've supported HuffPost before, and we'll be honest we could use your help again . We view our mission to provide free, fair news as critically important in this crucial moment, and we can't do it without you.

Whether you give once or many more times, we appreciate your contribution to keeping our journalism free for all.

Whether you give just one more time or sign up again to contribute regularly, we appreciate you playing a part in keeping our journalism free for all.

Support HuffPost

As for being muddled about such a scheme being illegal, Trump declared in a Times interview in 2017 that he was an expert on taxes.

I know the details of taxes better than anybody. Better than the greatest C.P.A., he said.

Check out Habermans remarks (beginning at 2:18) in the video clip above.