Several Prosecutors In Charge Of The Criminal Investigation Of Former President Donald Trump Have Resigned, Leaving The Case In Limbo

On Wednesday, two prosecutors in charge of the Manhattan district attorney’s criminal investigation into former President Donald Trump and his business links unexpectedly resigned, putting doubt on the probe’s future.

Carey Dunne and former mafia prosecutor Mark Pomerantz resigned, according to a representative for District Attorney Alvin Bragg. Both began working on the investigation under former District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr. and were urged to continue when Bragg took office in January.

Dunne, the office’s former chief counsel, successfully argued before the Supreme Court in a struggle for Trump’s tax returns. Vance took Pomerantz out of private practice last year to provide his experience in white collar investigations to the inquiry.

“We appreciate their service,” said Danielle Filson, a spokesman for Bragg. She declined to speak further, citing the ongoing inquiry. According to the New York Times, Dunne and Pomerantz resigned when Bragg expressed reservations about pursuing a case against Trump.

Messages were left for Dunne and Pomerantz requesting comment. The inquiry by the D.A.’s office resulted in tax fraud charges against Trump’s firm, the Trump Organization, and its longstanding finance head, Allen Weisselberg, last July. Weisselberg was suspected of receiving more than $1.7 million in illegal rewards, which included apartment rent, automobile payments, and school tuition. Both he and the firm have entered not guilty pleas.

On Tuesday, lawyers representing Weisselberg and the Trump Organization filed court documents seeking to have the case dismissed.

Weisselberg’s attorneys contended that the D.A.’s office was targeting him as punishment because he refused to turn on the former president.

Bragg recently stated that he was happy of the consistency that Dunne and Pomerantz brought to the high-profile inquiry throughout the transition from Vance’s administration to his leadership. “I believe the one constant is the personnel, and [Vance] brought on excellent lawyers to handle it,” Bragg said during a question-and-answer session with reporters on January 20.

“And they’ve been devoted,” Bragg said, “and we’ve been working and keeping them in place and thinking about the sort of resources to continue the investigation in order to then be in a position to make” judgments on the probe’s course.” Bragg said.

“Bragg, who is prohibited by ethical rules from discussing the matter in detail, stated at the time that he was learning about the Trump inquiry and that he would “follow the facts.” He did not provide a timetable for making a charging decision. “It’s a subject that, as you might expect, is on my radar screen and that I’m cognizant of and paying attention to,” Bragg remarked.