Trump Organization Hires Criminal Defense Lawyer Ronald Fischetti As N.Y. Probe Widens

The Trump Organization has hired lawyer Ronald Fischetti, a veteran defense attorney, as Manhattan District Attorney Cy Vance‘s case against Donald Trump and his associates continues to grow.

Fischetti represented former Rep. Robert Garcia (D-New York) and successfully overturned public corruption charges against the former congressman. The lawyer was also instrumental in efforts to drop charges against Charles Schwarz, an NYPD officer accused of assaulting a woman in 1997.

Vance and his team, now including former mob prosecutor Mark Pomerantz, have recently leaned into a thread of Trump dealings surrounding Trump’s private Westchester, New York estate, Seven Springs. Vance and his team are investigating an environmental conservation arrangement Trump made in 2015, which significantly lowered taxes on the massive estate. Trump allowed an easement of 158 acres of Seven Springs to go to a conservation land trust and subsequently had $21 million deducted from his income taxes. The deduction, however, was based on a valuation of Seven Springs that real estate experts and economists agree vastly overvalued the estate. Local government evaluators later concluded Trump’s Seven Springs was worth no more than $20 million total.

The Trump investigation comes at the end of Vance’s second term as Manhattan DA. Vance will not be running for reelection and the hotly contested seat is sought by several hopefuls, many of which would likely be happy to continue Vance’s work.