Trump's Kids Narrowly Avoided Criminal Charges For Lying About Value Of Dad's Soho Condos, Report Claims

NEW YORK CITY — President Donald Trump's oldest kids came close to being indicted in 2012 for lying to buyers about the value of one of their dad's luxury condo complexes in Soho, according to a joint investigation by The New Yorker, WNYC and ProPublica.

But Manhattan District Attorney Cy Vance shut down the probe of Donald Trump Jr. and Ivanka Trump after one of their attorneys gave the prosecutor's political campaign a big donation, the story says.

(For more on this and other neighborhood stories, subscribe to Patch to receive daily newsletters and breaking news alerts.)

Also See: White House Aides' Private Email Accounts: The List Keeps Growing

Emails described to the three news outlets show the Trump scions knew they were lying to buyers about how well condos were selling in the Trump SoHo, even though the development was struggling, according to in-depth reporting by Andrea Bernstein, Jesse Eisinger, Justin Elliott and Ilya Marritz.

Joan Vollero, a spokeswoman for Vance, told Patch that the two-year investigation of the Trumps "never produced sufficient evidence to support a criminal prosecution."

"During the investigation, the luxury apartment purchasers reversed course and took the position that the sellers had not committed any crime against them," Vollero told Patch in a statement. "No outside attorney influenced any decision in this matter."

Read the full report here.

(Lead image by Win McNamee/Getty Images)