2 NY Prosecutors Abruptly Resign From Investigating Trump Organization

2 NY Prosecutors Abruptly Resign From Investigating Trump Organization
The seal of the United States Department of Justice is seen on the building exterior of the United States Attorney's Office of the Southern District of New York in Manhattan, N.Y., on Aug. 17, 2020. Andrew Kelly/Reuters
Isabel van Brugen
Updated:

The two prosecutors leading the Manhattan district attorney’s criminal inquiry into the Trump Organization abruptly resigned on Wednesday.

The resignations of prosecutors Carey Dunne and Mark Pomerantz were confirmed by a spokesperson for District Attorney Alvin Bragg.

“We are grateful for their service,” said spokesperson Danielle Filson, without elaborating. Filson declined to comment further, saying the investigation is ongoing.

The New York Times, citing unnamed sources, reported that the prosecutors quit after Bragg raised doubts about pursuing a case against former President Donald Trump.

The Epoch Times has been unable to independently verify the reports. Dunne and Pomerantz didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment by The Epoch Times.

The D.A.’s office investigation led to tax fraud charges last July against Trump’s company, the Trump Organization, and its longtime finance chief, Allen Weisselberg. Trump has not been charged in the case.

Weisselberg was accused of collecting more than $1.7 million in off-the-books compensation, including apartment rent, car payments, and school tuition. He and the company have pleaded not guilty.

One of the unnamed sources told The New York Times that after Bragg signaled that he had doubts in the case, Dunne and Pomerantz last month postponed interviewing at least one witness before the grand jury.

The reasons behind Bragg’s alleged doubts in the case are unclear.

It comes after New York Supreme Court Judge Arthur Engoron ruled on Feb. 18 that Trump and two of his children, Ivanka Trump, and Donald Trump Jr., must testify in another investigation being conducted by New York Attorney Letitia James.

Attorneys for Trump argued that the investigation violates the U.S. and New York Constitutions and thus, the subpoenas issued against him and his children should be quashed.

Engoron said he’s considered the arguments “and finds them to be unavailing and/or non-dispositive,” adding that all three must sit for depositions within 21 days of the order.

Trump and his two children may invoke their Fifth Amendment rights however, Engoron noted.

The subpoena issued by James’s office also directs Trump to hand over documents and information within 14 days.

“No one will be permitted to stand in the way of the pursuit of justice, no matter how powerful they are. No one is above the law,” James said in a statement.

Trump said James is “selectively prosecut[ing] him and his family.”

“After viewing millions of pages of documents over many years, they come up with a ‘fringe benefits’ case on a car, an apartment, and on grandchildren’s education,” he said in a statement. “She is doing everything within their corrupt discretion to interfere with my business relationships, and with the political process.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Isabel van Brugen
Isabel van Brugen
Reporter
Isabel van Brugen is an award-winning journalist. She holds a master's in newspaper journalism from City, University of London.
twitter
Related Topics