After two high-profile prosecutors tasked with investigating former President Donald Trump resigned from the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office in February, speculation emerged that the probe would slowly fade away.
But on Thursday, Manhattan D.A. Alvin Bragg Jr. told CNN, “The investigation is very much ongoing.” He added that his office is “following the leads in front of us” and will leave “no stone unturned.”
Bragg also spoke with Bloomberg, telling the outlet the investigation is “open, it’s active, we have a great team in place of dedicated career prosecutors working every day. We’re exploring evidence that’s not been previously explored.”
CNN reports:
Bragg said he wanted the public to understand that he’s restrained from discussing “the meat” of the investigation but he said when it’s over he will inform the public about his conclusion — whether it’s an indictment or closing the case without charges.
Bragg wouldn’t place a timeline on the case saying investigations are not “linear.”
“When I was at the Attorney General’s office as chief deputy overseeing the entire office, I led the team that brought the successful litigation against the former president and the Trump Foundation. So I do what’s put before me. That’s what I’ve done as a career prosecutor, follow the facts and we’ll go where they take us and that’s what we’re doing each and every day in the office,” Bragg said.
Bragg, who was elected last November, inherited the Trump case from his predecessor, Cy Vance Jr. Over the course of three years, the office’s investigators narrowed their inquiry to the validity of financial statements Trump provided to lenders, insurers, and other institutions. If prosecutors could prove that Trump knowingly submitted false information to business partners and tax collectors, they could charge him with fraud.
Bloomberg adds:
Some press reports had suggested the investigation faced a deadline to charge Trump this month before a grand jury expired this month. But Bragg denied that was an issue.
“As anyone who has worked on criminal cases in New York knows, New York County has grand juries sitting all the time,” he said. “There is no magic at all to any previously reported dates.”
CNN provides context:
Prosecutors encountered several hurdles to their investigation, mainly they did not have a cooperator, a key insider, who could testify that Trump knew the financial statements included false information. In addition to proving Trump had criminal intent, some of the prosecutors also believed there were issues with the financial statements themselves, which included caveats that they were not audited and did not necessarily follow US accounting rules.
In February, attorneys Mark Pomerantz and Carey Dunne resigned from their posts at Bragg’s office, where they were leading the Trump inquiry.
In a resignation letter to Bragg, Pomerantz wrote “I believed that your decision not to prosecute Donald Trump now, and on the existing record, is misguided and completely contrary to the public interest.”
Pomerantz added that he had collected “evidence sufficient to establish Mr. Trump’s guilt beyond a reasonable doubt… I also do not believe that suspending the investigation pending future developments will lead to a stronger case or dispel your reluctance to bring charges.”
