Photo: Alvin Bragg, now Manhattan District Attorney, speaks with supporters on election night, in New York, Nov. 2, 2021. (AP Photo/Craig Ruttle, File)
Two top Manhattan prosecutors heading up the investigation into former President Donald Trump and his business dealings abruptly resigned, weeks before a grand jury term was set to expire in April, a spokesperson for Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg confirmed.
Prosecutors Mark Pomerantz and Carey Dunne quit on Feb. 23. Prosecutors can ask jurors to vote to extend their term but tend to avoid doing so.
The exit of two high-profile members involved in the case leaves the prosecution in peril, The Hill reported. Dunne is a high-ranking veteran of the district attorney’s office who has been closely involved with the investigation for years. Pomerantz, a prominent figure in New York legal circles, was tapped to work on the case.
The resignations came after Bragg, who took office as Manhattan D.A. on Jan. 1, 2022, admitted he had doubts in the criminal case against Trump and was unsure about moving ahead with the investigation.
It is unclear why Bragg had expressed doubts about the case, which is examining whether the value of Trump’s assets were inflated in order for the bank to give him preferential loan terms. A grand jury was convened in 2021 by Bragg’s predecessor, Cyrus Vance.
Without Bragg’s commitment to move forward, the prosecutors late last month postponed a plan to question at least one witness before the grand jury, The New York Times reported. Prosecutors have not questioned any witnesses in front of the grand jury for more than a month.
Prosecutors have also been unable to persuade any Trump Organization executives to cooperate and turn on Trump.
A spokeswoman for Bragg said that the investigation was ongoing but many on Twitter question Bragg’s motives.
“Source told me Bragg appeared to back away from the politically-sensitive probe after the D.A.’s ‘day 1’ memo got so much blowback. Made Bragg more reluctant to continue with something this hot,” tweeted Noah Shachtman, editor in chief of Rolling Stone magazine.
“This is a huge huge deal. Bragg could try to extend the special grand jury but the new developments raise big questions about that happening,” tweeted New York Times journalist Maggie Haberman.
“Sounds like Bragg was paid/blackmailed to drop this case. Pretty obvious,” tweeted Ooops, I’m a WENDIGO now @DianeKelly.
Listen to GHOGH with Jamarlin Martin | Episode 74: Jamarlin Martin Jamarlin returns for a new season of the GHOGH podcast to discuss Bitcoin, bubbles, and Biden. He talks about the risk factors for Bitcoin as an investment asset including origin risk, speculative market structure, regulatory, and environment. Are broader financial markets in a massive speculative bubble?
The resignations come amid escalating activity in a parallel civil inquiry by New York state Attorney General Letitia James, whose office is examining some of the same conduct by Trump and is also participating in the criminal inquiry.
Trump has disputed the charges and has accused Bragg and James, both Democrats who are Black, of being politically motivated and “racists.”
“I’ve been representing Donald Trump for over a year in this case, and I haven’t found any evidence that could lead to a prosecution against him or any crimes,” said Trump lawyer Ronald P. Fischetti. “I hope Mr. Bragg will now look again at all the evidence in the case and make a statement that he is discontinuing all investigations of Donald Trump.”
This doesn’t mean that Trump’s legal challenges are over. A judge in Washington refused to dismiss conspiracy lawsuits trying to hold him liable for the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot and the National Archives revealed that classified information was found in 15 boxes of White House records taken to Trump’s Florida mansion, Mar-a-Lago, Politico reported.
Photo: Alvin Bragg, Manhattan District Attorney, speaks with supporters on election night, in New York, Nov. 2, 2021. The two prosecutors in charge of the Manhattan district attorney’s criminal investigation into former President Donald Trump have suddenly resigned, throwing the future of the probe into question. A spokesperson for District Attorney Bragg confirmed the resignations of Carey Dunne and former mafia prosecutor Mark Pomerantz. (AP Photo/Craig Ruttle, File)
