NEW YORK (AP) — Donald Trump’s company and its longtime finance chief were charged Thursday in what prosecutors called a “sweeping and audacious” tax fraud scheme in which the executive collected more than $1.7 million in off-the-books compensation, including apartment rent, car payments and school tuition

(CNN)Allen Weisselberg, the former chief financial officer of the Trump Organization, has asked a judge to dismiss the tax fraud indictment against him, saying it violates the immunity he was given in the federal investigation into Michael Cohen, a former personal attorney to former President Donald Trump, and that certain charges fall outside of the statute of limitations.

Weisselberg's attorneys also argued in the 162-page brief that the Manhattan district attorney and New York attorney general have targeted Trump, Weisselberg and the Trump Organization. In the filing, his attorneys argue that New York authorities were politically motivated in pursuing the indictment last summer charging them with a 15-year tax fraud scheme. Weisselberg and the Trump Organization have pleaded not guilty.

The motion to dismiss comes as the Manhattan District Attorney's Office continues to investigate the Trump Organization and its executives about the accuracy of financial statements provided to lenders, insurers and others. Last week, a New York judge ruled that Trump, Donald Trump Jr. and daughter Ivanka Trump need to testify in the New York attorney general's civil investigation into the Trump Organization's finances. Trumps attorneys have vowed to appeal.

Donald Trump has been credibly accused of committing at least 48 criminal offenses while he was serving as President of the United States or campaigning for that office. Those offenses are listed in the table below, which includes possible offenses that were investigated by the Department of Justice while President Trump was in office as well as possible offenses that have not been the subject of any confirmed reported investigation. While he was in office, President Trump was protected by the DOJ’s policy of not indicting a sitting president, but that policy of course does not apply to a former president. The table does not include potential crimes being investigated by authorities in New York relating to the Trump Organization.

Despite Donald Trump’s staggering record of likely criminal misconduct as president and candidate for that office, he has not been charged with a single criminal offense. While adherence to the rule of law requires that prosecutors pursue criminal indictments only where the facts, law, and principles of prosecution support such action, it is also critical that no individual be insulated from accountability simply because they are a national political figure, a former president or a candidate for public office. Choosing not to pursue accountability for fear of the political criticism or consequences is itself a deeply political act.

“If President Trump avoids criminal prosecution for these potential offenses because prosecutors are unwilling to pursue legally justified cases against him, the message to him and future presidents will be clear: you can commit crimes with impunity.”

The eyes of the world are focused on the millions of Ukrainians fleeing Russia’s brutal invasion. But Russians are fleeing their own country too, at a speed most likely not seen since the collapse of the Soviet Union. They are running not from foreign bombs but from their own government. Rumors of impending martial law, closed borders, conscription and punitive military service have fueled panic. Amid state shutdowns of almost all of the last major independent media outlets and the announcement of draconian punishment for any coverage or criticism of Vladimir Putin’s war on Ukraine, tens or even hundreds of thousands of members of Russia’s liberal intelligentsia and political opposition are scrambling to escape.

Many have already headed to Georgia and Armenia, two major visa-free destinations accessible now that Russian airlines have been banned from most Western airspace. Some have gone to Central Asia, where they are packing hotels in Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan, or to the Asian and Middle Eastern countries that do not require visas. Others lucky enough to have Schengen visas have rushed west by car and train. The number of routes out of the country is shrinking, and the price of plane tickets has risen. A social media channel offering advice on “emigration from Russia to the free world” already has more than 100,000 members. Some Russian passport offices appear to be overwhelmed.

A state judge has ordered Donald Trump, his son Donald Trump Jr. and his daughter Ivanka Trump to sit for depositions within three weeks in New York Attorney General Letitia James’ ongoing investigation of alleged financial improprieties at the Trump Organization.

In a ruling Thursday, New York Supreme Court Justice Arthur Engoron roundly rejected bids by the Trumps to dodge giving testimony on grounds of James’ alleged bias and that her office is conducting parallel criminal and civil investigations.

Engoron said all three Trumps have the option of showing up for the depositions and refusing to answer the questions based on their constitutional right not to testify against themselves