Marion Bae, FISM News
Investigations into former U.S. President Donald J. Trump may be coming to an end, as the two lead prosecutors in the case abruptly resigned this month. This came after a month of low activity from the case and has raised speculation as to the strength of the lawsuits in the first place.
Cary Dunne and Mark Pomerantz have resigned from the investigation, which the New York Times reported was due to their belief that new New York District Attorney (DA), Alvin Bragg, “had doubts about moving forward with a case against Mr. Trump.”
The two prosecutors reportedly hadn’t questioned any witnesses before the grand jury in over a month, which effectively paused the investigation. Possible reasons for this reported stalling by Bragg is unknown.
When asked about the sudden resignation of the two prominent prosecutors on the case, Bragg’s spokeswoman, Danielle Filson, said, “We are grateful for their service,” but she declined any further comment due to the fact that it is an ongoing investigation. Dunne and Pomerantz also declined to provide a reason when the New York Times reached out for comment.
Dunne and Pomerantz were hired under previous New York DA, Cyrus R. Vance, Jr., who convened the grand jury for the hearings in the fall of last year and was making strides in charging Trump. Vance notably did not seek reelection and handed the reigns of the investigation to Bragg, who has not kept the momentum going.
The main charges the prosecutors were pursuing at the time of their departure were those related to tax fraud; however, they hadn’t been able to get any executives in the Trump Organization to fight for their cause.
The accountant for Trump had been questioned, and the accounting firm that the Trump Organization used, Mazars USA, has recently parted ways with the organization. The prosecutors also questioned a real estate expert and were said to have one more witness lined up that they were never able to question before the grand jury.
The fraud they were focused on involved President Trump allegedly inflating the value of his assets when it benefited him, such as to get better loan terms, and diminishing them for tax purposes.
The departure of the two prosecutors and reported lack of initiative by Bragg has been an encouraging sign for Trump and his legal team.
Trump’s attorney Ron Fischetti, who expects to see the investigation called off in the coming days, told Fox News, “I’m very happy. I believe the investigation is now over, as it should be,” adding, “I believe they had a meeting and went through evidence and decided what I have been saying all along, that there wasn’t any evidence that Donald Trump individually did any wrong in this case.”
Another source told Fox that Trump had, in fact, undervalued his assets, pointing to Trump’s Statement of Financial Condition.
“After years of investigation, they’ve figured this out,” the source said, continuing, “And Bragg won’t prosecute it.”
While the prosecution in this case seems shaken, the defense is encouraged that the years long investigation could soon be ending.