Two top prosecutors who were working with the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office on the ongoing investigation on fraud and tax evasion charges against the Trump Organization have tendered their resignations. On Wednesday, a spokesperson for the DA’s office, Danielle Filson confirmed the news to several news outlets. The New York Times was the first to report the news.
Filson said that they were grateful for the services of Mark Pomerantz and Carey Dunne. The spokesperson also said that they couldn’t comment further as the investigations against the Trump Organization were ongoing.
It must be noted that both these experienced prosecutors were brought in by former District Attorney of Manhattan, Cyrus Vance, who did not seek reelection before the probe could be completed. His successor Alvin Bragg promised to continue with the investigation but things have slowed down considerably after Vance’s departure.
The Times reported that sources who were familiar with the matter said that the Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg had reservations about moving the case forward. One source said that he had been facing bad press due to recent prosecutorial policies that he had recently advanced. So, he was disinterested in the probe against the Trump Organization.
Both Pomerantz and Dunne had put in a lot of work to get the case move forward. Pomerantz, a private citizen had offered his services free of charge. The source said that their leaving would harm the investigation but it would not mean that the case had ended.
However, another source disagreed with this assessment and said that “Alvin” had taken a great interest in the case and the investigations were ongoing and that the team had strong lawyers.
The Times also said that the “precise reasons”behind the pullback by the DA were unknown. Alvin Bragg had spoken of personally focusing on the fraud and tax evasion case against the Trump Organization by calling it a case that merited personal attention from the DA. However, the Times noted that he had made “few public statements about the status of the enquiry since taking office.”
On Tuesday, the Trump Organization and former financial officer Allen Weisselberg filed in court saying that the charges were politically motivated and that they should be dismissed. President Trump has not been personally accused of wrongdoing, although the Trump Organization CFO was indicted for tax fraud, last July.
