Tish James should take over New York Trump investigation.
On Wednesday, the New York Times reported that Carey R. Dunne and Mark F. Pomerantz, two esteemed prosecutors leading the Manhattan district attorney’s office’s criminal investigation of Donald Trump, had resigned, sounding the likely death-knell of that office’s multi-year investigation any New York prosecution of the former president for allegedly false financial statements.
The Times explained that newly elected DA Alvin Bragg had expressed doubts to them about proceeding with the case. Trump has denied any wrong-doing in connection with submitting his financial statements to lenders and the state.
Those who worry that the former president has again proven to be “Teflon Don” should consider the following: The Manhattan DA is not the only one with prosecutorial authority over these possible crimes. There is another prosecutor in the state who could take on Trump—Attorney General Letitia James.
James has been out front in pursuing the civil investigation into alleged financial fraud committed by Trump and his organization. She has already put Trump’s so-called charitable foundation out of business for its breach of fiduciary duties and statutory violations. A court also recently granted her the authority to depose Trump and some of his family members.
What’s important here, though, is something else. She and the state’s federal crimes bureau share with local prosecutors authority over “tax crimes and insurance fraud,” as well as “complex financial crimes that cross county lines.” To date, she and the Manhattan prosecutor have divided labor, with the AG taking responsibility for civil dimensions, and the DA for the criminal side.
AdvertisementOn Wednesday, James’s spokeswoman said the joint criminal inquiry “is ongoing and there is a robust team in place that is working on it.” And on Thursday, Bragg announced another prosecutor would now lead the investigation.
Advertisement Advertisement AdvertisementAt the same time, the Washington Post reported that there have been occasions when “James’s office wanted to take a more aggressive approach” than Bragg. If he eventually declines to go forward, James could conceivably take over the criminal case in his stead.
James’ team could maintain both aspects of the probe, criminal and civil. The attorney general has plenty of ability to do just that under her authority to investigate tax and financial crimes as well as under New York’s Executive Law §70-1. That law places within her office there an organized crime task force which has “the duty and power (a) to conduct investigations and prosecutions of organized crime activities carried on either between two or more counties of this state or between this state and another jurisdiction.” Under the state’s racketeering or “enterprise corruption” statute, a criminal enterprise does not need to be the Cosa Nostra but can be any business that conducts itself through a pattern of criminal violations of laws prohibiting fraud, false statements, and grand larceny, among others.
AdvertisementJames could even ask the two prosecutors who left Bragg’s office, Pomerantz and Dunne, to join her team. According to the Times, Mr. Dunne was “a high-ranking veteran of the office who has been closely involved with the inquiry for years” while Pomerantz is “a leading figure in New York legal circles who was enlisted to work on it.”
AdvertisementLongtime New York criminal defense attorney Robert C. Gottlieb, also a veteran of the Manhattan DA’s office, told me that he knows Pomerantz and has “the highest regard for him.” Gottlieb said that Pomerantz, “would not resign unless he was totally disgusted by roadblocks being placed in front of him.”
Gottlieb also said that he has experience as defense counsel in a financial fraud case where James brought both civil and criminal cases simultaneously, so doing so here would break no new ground.
Advertisement AdvertisementThose looking for first-time criminal accountability for Trump should be aware this would not necessarily be an easy prosecution. It’s no simple thing to prove beyond a reasonable doubt to the satisfaction of 12 unanimous jurors that Trump deceived sophisticated financial institutions who obviously have their own ability to verify the property valuations that borrowers give them. Trump’s lawyers can argue that they either confirmed the valuations or wanted to lend to him even if they thought the valuations false.
In addition, the Washington Post reported that Pomerantz himself acknowledged to a witness the challenge of proving Trump’s criminal intent. “He said, ‘We need to prove that Trump wasn’t just drinking his own Kool-Aid’” when his company told lenders that he had assets that were worth far more than what he actually owned.
Advertisement Advertisement AdvertisementProsecutors must show that Trump was lying; that is, that he knew that his financial statements were false and submitted them anyway. Trump can say that if his accounting firm, Mazars, who stood behind the financials until this month, believed in them, he certainly did not believe that they were inflated.
Who can say at this point whether Bragg looked at the case and made a judgment about the difficulty of proof, a judgment over which reasonable prosecutors might differ?
Popular in News & Politics
- America Needs to Grow Up
- The Horrible Truth About Shaken Baby Syndrome Cases
- The Degradation of Donald Trump Attorney Todd Blanche Is Already Complete
- The Trump Defense Made Hope Hicks Cry. The Prosecution Got What It Wanted.
The Post also reported that Bragg’s predecessor, Cyrus Vance, had approved the office seeking an indictment. Vance, however, chose not to seek re-election last year and handed the job off to Bragg.
Ultimately, leaving such a post is always a personal decision. But having done so in the middle of the biggest case in his career, and saying little more than, in effect, “it was time,” Vance left the door open to questions about why he didn’t stay to follow through. Anyone prosecuting Trump, we know from experience, will be the subject of unrelenting vilification. It’s possible Vance, who early in his tenure lost a high profile sexual abuse case against Dominique Strauss-Kahn, head of the International Monetary Fund, and who initially declined to prosecute Harvey Weinstein, did not want to risk losing a Trump prosecution on his watch.
The good news is that James has already proven that she is not intimidated by Trump or fearful of risk. She has the opportunity to show that again by picking up where Vance left off and where Bragg may be following suit.
Tweet Share Share Comment-
21 Lost and Lonely CemeteriesWeak electrolyte bonds keep lithium metal battery running in the coldRussell Crowe says Australia 'looks like *ssholes' when it comes to refugeesQualcomm's new Snapdragon 855 Plus will give mobile gamers a boostCampbell highlights Washington Declaration amid security concerns over PutinWhy the SpiderForgo yearAfter two years, Illinois finally passed a budget.11 Places to See Tiny Trains[News Focus] Eased regulations on e
- ·Against All Odds: How Netflix Made It
- ·Audible now finds the best parts of romance novels for you
- ·Trump drawn as a comic book villain is too damn uncanny
- ·North Korea hasn't met its promise to return US war remains
- ·Alcaraz, Sinner survive US Open wobbles
- ·NASA imagines a 1969 webpage for the Apollo 11 landing
- ·'Moon' songs to celebrate anniversary of the Apollo 11 lunar landing
- ·'Game of Thrones' leads 2019 Emmy nominees: Here's full list
- ·Alcaraz vs. Van de Zandschulp 2024 livestream: Watch US Open for free
- ·Prime minister asks Koreans to stay home
- ·Google Pixel 4 XL renders: bump on the back, forehead on the front
- ·Barty time as Serena sets up showdown with world number one
- ·优化广东优质农产品产销资源对接!“农友圈”又有新动作
- ·N. Korea campaigns against anti
- ·N. Korea campaigns against anti
- ·This woman assumed her trainer was flirting, he just thought she looked like Buzz Lightyear
- ·Yes, big spiders are spreading in the U.S. No, they're not flying.
- ·North Korea hasn't met its promise to return US war remains
- ·'Stranger Things' Season 3 moment gets meme'd into sweet oblivion
- ·Aguero weeks away from return after Covid
- ·The AI stock bubble has burst. Here's how we know.
- ·NK refuses to show up at war remains talks
- ·Some stores are 'protecting' their ice cream from the ridiculous threat of lickers
- ·Guardiola hails 'genius' Allardyce for rescue acts
- ·Yoon approves labor minister's appointment
- ·Megan Rapinoe calls out Trump: 'Your message is excluding people'
- ·实干担当抓落实 多措并举促发展
- ·Man United suit my winning mentality, says Fernandes
- ·Uber's self
- ·Troops in greater Seoul area under tighter anti
- ·Coach jailed for sexual exploitation of underage athlete
- ·Aguero weeks away from return after Covid
- ·There's a glaring gender imbalance in auto repair, but women want to change that
- ·Tesla surprises fans with $1,500 limited edition surfboards
- ·Listeners encouraged to go wild with Le Sserafim's 4th EP
- ·Ransomware attack absolutely wrecks Alaskan town's IT infrastructure