Who is “Unindicted Co-Conspirator #1” in the Trump Organization indictments? It may not be who you think it is.
Today’s Trump Organization criminal indictments make repeated reference to an “Unindicted Co-Conspirator #1” who stands accused of having conspired with Allen Weisselberg and the Trump Organization to commit various financial crimes over a period of years.
This has led a number of observers to conclude that “Unindicted Co-Conspirator #1” is likely Donald Trump. This would make sense. Establishing him as a co-conspirator would be a precursor for ultimately indicting him.
However, NBC News is now reporting that “Unindicted Co-Conspirator #1” is not Donald Trump. Given the media’s repeated willingness to use Trump’s own lawyers as the “source” for this kind of reporting over the past week, this all has to be taken with a grain of salt. But we’ll see.
If it’s not Donald Trump, our best guess would be Trump Organization Controller Jeff McConney. It’s been widely reported that he testified to the grand jury about a month ago. Under New York law he would have received immunity for his testimony, which would explain why he’s not being indicted for his crimes. In fact if “Unindicted Co-Conspirator #1” is indeed McConney, it would confirm that he’s a legitimate cooperating witness.
In Palmer Report recently urged readers to keep an eye on what if anything might end up happening with Jeff McConney this week. If McConney were indicted, then it would point to his testimony having been dishonest, meaning he didn’t really cooperate. But if prosecutors left McConney alone, it would point to him being a legitimate cooperator. Sure enough, prosecutors left McConney alone today, whether he’s “Unindicted Co-Conspirator #1” or not.
