Illegal perks cost Trump Organization $1.6 million

The Trump Organization receives the maximum fine for tax fraud; President Biden and Japan’s Kishida talk about China.

The Sentences newsletter will be off on Monday for the holiday and back in your inbox on Tuesday, January 17. Tonight's Sentences was written by Jariel Arvin.

Trump Organization fined $1.6 million for tax fraud

Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images

• A New York judge on Friday ordered the Trump Organization to pay $1.6 million in state fines for years of providing off-the-books compensation to top executives. [Washington Post / Shayna Jacobs]
• The sentence comes after Donald Trump’s businesses were convicted of 17 felonies last month, including tax fraud and falsifying records. [CNN / Kara Scannell and Nicki Brown] 
• Longtime employee Allen Weisselberg admitted to receiving an apartment, luxury cars, and private school tuition for his grandchildren under the table. He was sentenced to five months in prison after pleading guilty. [New York Times / Jonah E. Bromwich, Ben Protess, and William K. Rashbaum]
• The fine — the maximum allowed by law — will likely have little impact on Trump’s business. However, the conviction could make it tougher for the company to take out future bank loans. [NBC News / Dareh Gregorian and Adam Reiss]
• Meanwhile, New York Attorney General Letitia James has filed a $250 million lawsuit against Trump and his organization, alleging that they inflated property assets to banks and insurers. [Associated Press / Michael R. Sisak]

📍 If you read just one story

Vox’s Ian Millhiser explains the four criminal investigations Donald Trump faces. [Vox / Ian Millhiser]

Biden meets Kishida

• President Joe Biden on Friday hosted Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida at the White House for security talks on China and North Korea. [AP / Aamer Madhani]
• The meeting comes a month after Japan announced it would boost defense spending and improve its military capabilities in a major reversal of the country’s stance post-WWII. [Washington Post / Ishaan Tharoor]
• US and Japanese officials agreed to bolster military cooperation in the Pacific to confront aggression from Russia, China, and North Korea. [NYT / Edward Wong]
• Biden and Kishida also discussed US limits on semiconductor exports to China. [Reuters / Andrea Shalal and David Brunnstrom]

Congress’s $1.7 trillion budget includes billions in funding to fight HIV and malaria abroad. [Vox / Dylan Matthews]

• Thousands of Peruvians marched peacefully through Lima streets on Thursday, demanding the resignation of President Dina Boluarte. [Reuters / Marco Aquino]
• Missouri’s House of Representatives adopted changes to its dress code that restrict what women lawmakers can wear, sparking intense debate. [NPR / Rachel Treisman]
• A Virginia school was alerted that a 6-year-old who later allegedly shot his teacher had a weapon but a search failed to locate the gun. [CNN / Raja Razek]

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“The direct consequence needs to be stiffer. While we need to think long and hard before we add to our penal law, I think this is an area where we should.”

[Manhattan district attorney Alvin L. Bragg on the Trump fine / NYT]

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