Two top prosecutors involved in a criminal investigation of former President Donald Trump and his company, the Trump Organization, have resigned from the Manhattan district attorney’s office, a spokesperson confirmed to NBC News.
Carey Dunne, who championed the legal fight to get the former president’s tax returns and tax related documents all the way to the Supreme Court, twice, and won, has left the office along with Mark Pomerantz, a former mafia prosecutor who was recruited from private practice to help lead the investigation.
Danielle Filson, a spokesperson for Manhattan D.A. Alvin Bragg, said in a statement that “we are grateful for their service” and “the investigation is ongoing.” Filson said she could not comment further.
The resignations were first reported by The New York Times.
The Manhattan district attorney’s office changed hands in January, after the previous DA, Cyrus Vance, opted to not seek re-election and was succeeded by Bragg.
The New York Times, citing two sources, reported that Bragg was backing away from the investigation and had paused grand jury testimony, which was followed by the resignations.
Trump has not been charged with any wrongdoing in the case, and has called the investigation a politically motivated “witch hunt.”
The Trump Organization and its former chief financial officer were charged last year in what prosecutors said was a sweeping, 15-year scheme to compensate top executives of Trump’s company “off the books” and help them avoid paying taxes. Both have pleaded not guilty.
Prosecutors said the company engaged in an “orchestrated” scheme to compensate executives “off the books” to avoid taxes.
At the time Dunne said in court, “contrary to today’s assertion by the company’s former CEO [Trump], this is not a ‘standard practice in the business community’ nor was it the act of a rogue or isolated employee.”
“Instead, it was orchestrated by the most senior executives, who were financially benefiting themselves and the company by getting secret pay raises at the expense of state and federal taxpayers,” Dunne said.
Pomerantz was hired by Vance to work on the case because of his expertise in white collar and complex financial cases, and had taken in a role in interviewing witnesses, NBC News has previously reported.
In an interview with CNN before he took office, Bragg praised Dunne and Pomerantz as “two very good lawyers” and said that he hoped they would stay on the case.
“I think it would be a disservice to Manhattan to lose them,” Bragg said.
Dareh Gregorian contributed.
Source: | This article originally belongs to Nbcnews.com
