'donald Trump Knew Exactly What Was Going On' In Trump Org. Tax Fraud, Manhattan Prosecutor Says In Summations

Former President Donald Trump, left, and the exterior of Trump Tower, where the Trump Organization is headquartered.Justin Sullivan/Getty Images, left. Nicolas Economou/Getty Images, right. Closings in the Trump Organization's Manhattan tax-fraud trial will conclude on Friday. Late Thursday, a prosecutor told jurors Trump "knew exactly" how his top executives dodged taxes. Trump's real-estate empire is trying to beat a tax-fraud rap by arguing Trump was in the dark. "Donald Trump knew exactly what was going on with his top executives," a Manhattan prosecutor told jurors in blistering closing arguments Thursday, as the Trump Organization tax fraud trial neared its homestretch.The prosecutor's bombshell assertion — yet to be elaborated on — directly opposes defense claims that Trump was in the dark about a personal tax-dodge scheme enjoyed for more than a decade by top executives working just down the hall from his desk on the 26th floor of Trump Tower.The "Trump was in on it" pronouncement, made in summations by prosecutor Joshua Steinglass, prompted strong opposition from defense lawyers after jurors left the courtroom for the day.One defense lawyer, Alan Futerfas, objected that Steinglass violated an agreement not to speculate to jurors about what Trump knew or didn't know."You all shouldn't have opened the door" during your own summations earlier Thursday, Steinglass shot back to the defense table, "by arguing Donald Trump didn't know" about the scheme."It was your defense that invoked the name," the trial judge agreed, allowing Steinglass to continue the "Trump was in on it" line of argument when his summations conclude Friday.