Hi, I'm Dan Pramack, and welcome to Axios Recap, where we dig into one big story.

Today is Wednesday, May 19th.

Cryptocurrency prices are way down, big box retail sales are way up, and we're focused on

the legal case against Donald Trump.

Late last night, the New York Attorney General's office announced that its investigation

into Donald Trump's business empire has expanded from a civil one into a criminal one.

Or put another way, potential penalties have moved from the realm of pay a bunch of money

to go to jail.

Three things to know.

First, a big part of the investigation's focus

is on property valuations and the possibility that the Trump organization falsely reported them

for its own economic benefit, possibly defrauding tax collectors, insurers, and banks.

Two, the New York AG is working with the Manhattan District Attorney on the overall probe,

something that sounds kind of common sense, but it's actually a pairing that is relatively

unusual.

Three, neither Trump nor his organization have been formally charged by either office,

and early this afternoon, he released a statement basically saying he's being harassed

because of corrupt politics.

The bottom line here is that the legal vice seems to have tightened in the past 24 hours for

the former president, perhaps in a way that could impact his interest or ability to become

the future president. So we wanted to go deeper with David Ferarenthold, a Washington Post reporter whose entire beat

is covering the Trump family's business dealings. We'll ask David how this investigation started,

...