Manhattan DA: Trump criminal investigation is continuing

Former President Trump blasted New York Attorney General Letitia James as an ‘operative for the Democrat Party’ and called her effort to sanction him for refusing to turn over documents requested as part of an ongoing fraud probe into his business empire ‘a continuation of the greatest Witch Hunt of all time.’

‘I’ve been investigated by the Democrats more than Billy the Kid, Jesse James, and Al Capone, combined,’ Trump said in a statement. ‘This has been going on for years, and in all cases, I have been innocent.’ 

James asked a state judge Thursday to hold Trump in contempt of court for not turning over documents she subpoenaed as part of her civil probe into the former president’s business practices.

In a court filing, James said Trump failed to abide by his earlier agreement to comply ‘in full’ with her subpoena for documents and information by March 31 and asked that he be fined $10,000 a day until he complies.

‘This is just a continuation of the greatest Witch Hunt of all time, by a failed Attorney General, who continues to use her office for political gain following a disastrous and embarrassing attempt to run for Governor, in which she only received a 3% approval rating, and was forced to drop out of the race by her own party, in disgrace,’ Trump began in a lengthy statement on Thursday night. 

Former President Donald Trump slammed New York Attorney General Letitia James as an ‘operative for the Democrat Party’. James asked a judge to hold Trump in contempt for failing to turn over documents and has threatened to fine him $10,000 a day

Trump posted a lengthy statement lambasting the investigation into his dealings

 ‘This Democrat prosecutorial misconduct began the second I came down the escalator in Trump Tower, and has continued in an attempt to silence a President who is leading in every single poll. Never before has this happened to another President, and it is an absolute violation of my civil rights,’ he said as he continued to bemoan the investigation overall.

‘As President I had two jobs—to run our Country well, and to survive. After having survived so many investigations, numerous people have said to me, ‘You must be the cleanest person alive. Nobody else could have survived this.’ But how do I get my reputation back as this unfair persecution endlessly continues?

Trump was also ordered to turn over a series of accounting and tax documents, which he has so far failed to do despite his lawyers saying he would

Trump continued by accusing James of ignoring bigger problems facing the state and her office.

‘Letitia James is no longer working as Attorney General, she is an operative for the Democrat Party in a political prosecution. New York has been through hell, and she is an embarrassment to our legal system. James uses her office for political gain, while New York crime is up over 50 percent, a bigger increase than any other place in the Nation. Much of it is violent crime—murder, rape, and drug trafficking (which is at the highest level ever).

Trump then used the final portion of his statement to recount his own ‘successes’ during his time in office. 

‘When will the Witch Hunt against a popular former President, who had our Country Energy Independent, with no Inflation, a strong Southern Border, and no Wars (such as that which is now raging uncontrollably in Ukraine), who rebuilt our Military (including Space Force), cut Taxes, Regulations, and so much more, ever end. When will horrible and unfair political harassment and persecution in our Country finally be over. Instead, MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!’

Donald Trump (C) and his children Don Jr (L) and Ivanka (R) have been ordered to submit to questioning in New York in connection with a fraud probe, but have yet to do so

James’ three-year probe and a parallel criminal probe led by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg have focused on whether the Trump Organization misstated the values of its real estate properties to obtain favorable loans and tax deductions.

Last week, James said her probe had found ‘significant evidence’ suggesting that for more than a decade the company’s financial statements ‘relied on misleading asset valuations and other misrepresentations to secure economic benefits.’

James has questioned how the Trump Organization valued the ‘Trump brand,’ as well as properties including golf clubs in New York and Scotland and Trump’s own penthouse apartment in midtown Manhattan’s Trump Tower.

On February 17, Justice Arthur Engoron of the New York state court in Manhattan ordered Trump to produce documents covered by the subpoena by March 3, and for Trump and his adult children Donald Trump Jr and Ivanka Trump to be questioned under oath.

Trump later obtained an extension through March 31 to produce documents. He and his children asked a state appeals court to overturn the ruling requiring their testimony.

In a March 31 filing, another lawyer for Trump objected that the subpoena was ‘grossly overbroad’ and unduly burdensome, and sought information protected by attorney-client or executive privilege.

Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg has vowed to ‘personally’ focus on the high profile investigation

But James said on Thursday that Engoron’s order was not an ‘opening bid’ entitling Trump to renegotiate the subpoena.

‘The ship has long since sailed on Mr. Trump’s ability to raise any such objections,’ she wrote.

James said that given Trump’s ‘purported meticulous involvement’ at his company, ‘it seems incredible that now virtually no documents exist’ suggesting he had a personal role in reviewing asset valuations.

And while James has received Trump’s personal tax returns from 2011 to 2018, she said Trump has stonewalled on providing other materials, including documents or notes in his own handwriting.

In February, Trump’s longtime accounting firm Mazars USA cut ties with him and the Trump Organization, saying it could no longer stand behind a decade of financial statements.

The Trumps have called James’ probe ‘a politically-motivated gambit that was commenced in bad faith,’ and intended to advance her career at their expense.

James, a Democrat, is seeking reelection in November. Trump, a Republican, may seek a second White House term in 2024.

The status of Bragg’s criminal probe has been uncertain, following the resignation in February of the two senior prosecutors who had led it.

According to the New York Times, Bragg, who took office in January and inherited the criminal probe from fellow Democrat Cyrus Vance Jr, has expressed doubts about charging Trump.

In a statement on Thursday, Bragg said his office’s investigation is continuing and defended his handling of it.

‘Prosecutors fulfilling their duties cannot and do not bring only cases that are ‘slam dunks,” he said. ‘I pledge that the office will publicly state the conclusion of our investigation – whether we conclude our work without bringing charges, or move forward with an indictment.’  

Refuting suggestions that he´s lost interest in going after Trump, Bragg said Thursday a criminal investigation is continuing ‘without fear or favor’ despite a recent shakeup in the probe’s leadership.

In a rare public statement, Bragg denied that the three-year investigation was winding down or that a grand jury term expiring this month would impede his office’s ability to bring charges.

Citing secrecy rules, the district attorney said he couldn’t discuss details of the probe but pledged to publicly disclose findings when it’s over.

‘In recent weeks, the Manhattan District Attorney´s Office has been repeatedly asked whether our investigation concerning former President Donald J. Trump, the Trump Organization, and its leadership is continuing,’ Bragg wrote. ‘It is.’

In a statement on Thursday, Bragg said his office’s investigation is continuing and defended his handling of it. ‘Prosecutors fulfilling their duties cannot and do not bring only cases that are ‘slam dunks,” he said. 

Bragg´s statement proclaiming that the Trump investigation was still active marked his first public comment on the matter since the two men who had been leading it, Mark Pomerantz and Carey Dunne, resigned February 23 in a dispute over the direction of the case.

Pomerantz, a former mafia prosecutor, wrote in a resignation letter that he believed Trump is ‘guilty of numerous felony violations’ but that Bragg, who inherited the probe when he took office in January, had decided not to pursue charges.

Pomerantz said in the letter, published last month by The New York Times, that there was ‘evidence sufficient to establish Mr. Trump´s guilt beyond a reasonable doubt’ of allegations he falsified financial statements to secure loans and burnish his image as a wealthy businessman.

‘I believe that your decision not to prosecute Donald Trump now, and on the existing record, is misguided and completely contrary to the public interest,’ Pomerantz wrote.

Bragg´s silence after the resignations and the March 23 publication of Pomerantz´s letter gave rise to a narrative that the investigation was effectively dead.

After Pomerantz and Dunne left, Trump lawyer Robert Fischetti told the Associated Press: ‘I´m a very happy man. In my opinion, this investigation is over.’

Pomerantz and Dunne started on the probe under former District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr.

Pomerantz wrote that Vance had directed them to seek an indictment of Trump and other defendants ‘as soon as reasonably possible,’ but that Bragg reached a different conclusion after reviewing the evidence.

Vance and Bragg are Democrats. No ex-president has ever been charged with a crime.

In his statement Thursday, Bragg tried to wrest back the narrative, putting Trump on notice that he isn’t done while reassuring his own supporters, who backed him in part because he pledged to continue investigating the former president, a Republican.

Bragg said that a team of ‘dedicated, experienced career prosecutors’ is working on the investigation, led by his Investigation Division chief Susan Hoffinger and that they are ‘going through documents, interviewing witnesses, and exploring evidence not previously explored.’

‘In the long and proud tradition of white-collar prosecutions at the Manhattan D.A.´s Office, we are investigating thoroughly and following the facts without fear or favor,’ Bragg said.

So far, the three-year investigation has resulted only in tax fraud charges against Trump´s company, the Trump Organization, and its longtime finance chief Allen Weisselberg relating to lucrative fringe benefits such as rent, car payments and school tuition. They have pleaded not guilty.

Weisselberg´s lawyers filed court papers in February asking a judge to throw out his case, arguing that prosecutors targeted him as punishment because he wouldn´t flip on the former president.

Trump has cited potential peril from the criminal case as he appeals a ruling requiring him to answer questions under oath in James’ civil investigation.

Trump´s lawyers contend James, who assigned two lawyers to work on the criminal case, is using the guise of a civil deposition to get around a state law barring prosecutors from calling someone to testify before a criminal grand jury without giving them immunity.

James, a Democrat, has said her investigation has uncovered evidence that Trump may have misstated the value of assets like golf courses and skyscrapers on his financial statements for more than a decade.

Bragg said his career and perspective have been shaped by ‘high-profile, complex investigations,’ including a lawsuit he oversaw while a top deputy in the attorney general’s office that led to the closure of Trump’s charity over allegations he used it to further his political and business interests.

‘Prosecutors fulfilling their duties cannot and do not bring only cases that are `slam dunks,´’ Bragg wrote. ‘To the contrary, every case must be brought for the right reason – namely that justice demands it. That’s what I’ve done throughout my career, regardless of how easy or tough a case might be.’

A grand jury convened in the Trump investigation last fall hasn’t met regularly for several months and its term is expected to run out soon, but Bragg said there are grand juries sitting in Manhattan all the time and ‘there is no magic at all to any previously reported dates.’

‘In the meantime, we will not be discussing our investigative steps. Nor will we be discussing grand jury matters.’ Bragg wrote. ‘In short, as we have previously said, the investigation continues.’