Ex-NYPD Lieutenant Claims Special Treatment Was Given to Trump and Others Seeking Gun Permits
UH OH
The ex-NYPD lieutenant claims the licensing division bent the rules for Donald Trump Jr. and Michael Cohen, among others.
Gary Hershorn/Reuters
A disgraced ex-NYPD lieutenant facing sentencing for bribery conspiracy has accused the department’s License Division of giving special treatment to President Trump, Donald Trump Jr., Michael Cohen and an unidentified ally of Mayor de Blasio, the New York Daily News reports. In papers filed in Manhattan Federal Court on Wednesday, former Lt. Paul Dean alleged that pervasive corruption in the License Division—the department tasked with processing city gun permits—allowed Trump, Cohen, and Trump Jr. to obtain full-carry gun licenses despite not having proper credentials, thanks to their donations to the Police Athletic League or the New York City Police Foundation. He claimed gun licenses were also approved for John Catsimatidis, former Sony CEO Thomas Mottola, former Morgan Stanley CEO John Mack, Estee Lauder’s Ronald Lauder, late Fox News CEO Roger Ailes, and Sean Hannity despite them allegedly not meeting qualifications. The court filings did not suggest that Trump or any other figures mentioned were aware of any wrongdoing in obtaining the gun permits, nor did the filings suggest they did anything wrong. Hannity, in a statement through a spokesperson, said he had "followed every legal and proper procedure" for his application.
