On Wednesday, news broke that two Manhattan DAs had resigned from the case investigating what New York State Attorney General Letita James said were "fraudulent or misleading" business practices from former President Donald Trump. A report from The New York Times notes that these resignations are "clouding case's future" and "throws its future into serious doubt."
Doubts about the case come from Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg himself, which led to the resignations. From The New York Times:
The prosecutors, Carey R. Dunne and Mark F. Pomerantz, submitted their resignations after the new Manhattan district attorney, Alvin Bragg, indicated to them that he had doubts about moving forward with a case against Mr. Trump, the people said.
Mr. Pomerantz confirmed in a brief interview that he had resigned, but declined to elaborate. Mr. Dunne declined to comment.
Without Mr. Bragg’s commitment to move forward, the prosecutors late last month postponed a plan to question at least one witness before the grand jury, one of the people said. They have not questioned any witnesses in front of the grand jury for more than a month, essentially pausing their investigation into whether Mr. Trump inflated the value of his assets to obtain favorable loan terms from banks.
The reaction from the report, has been a sense of shock, as it said the DAs resigned "abruptly" and called it a "stunning development." There's also a focus on what fallout Bragg could face now:
If Mr. Bragg ultimately closes the investigation, he could face political fallout in Manhattan, where Mr. Trump is generally loathed. And the district attorney has already had a rocky start to his tenure, after a memo he released outlining his policies for the office was met with furious pushback from local officials, small businesses and the public.
Mr. Bragg — who was sworn in on Jan. 1 — is a former federal prosecutor and veteran of the New York State attorney general’s office, where he oversaw civil litigation against Mr. Trump and his administration under Ms. James’s predecessor.
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Nowhere is there mention, though, of how Bragg is already arguably facing "political fallout" for his soft-on-crime stance while New York City is undergoing decades-high of violent crimes. This includes hate crimes. Last year, anti-Asian hate crimes increased 343 percent, and the situation sadly isn't improving. Just earlier this month, Christina Yuna Lee, 35, was allegedly murdered by Assamad Nash, 25, a "homeless career criminal." There were three open cases out against him at the time he allegedly murdered Lee.
As of January 30 of this year, major crimes have been up 38 percent so far in New York City.
A petition was also launched last month to recall Bragg, who just took office on January 1.
Now liberals seem to be less than thrilled with Bragg too. "Manhattan DA" is currently trending on Twitter as a result of Dunne and Pomerantaz's resignations.
Donald Trump could stand in the middle of Fifth Avenue and shoot someone and the Manhattan DA would do exactly jack shit, apparently
— Jeff Tiedrich (@itsJeffTiedrich) February 23, 2022
Absolutely stunned by the utter incompetence of the new Manhattan DA to destroy his investigation into Trump & alienate two incredibly tenacious prosecutors who have simultaneously resigned. DA Bragg makes Trump appear above the law once again & possibly clouds Tish James’ case.
— Spiro Agnew’s Ghost (@SpiroAgnewGhost) February 23, 2022
Mark Pomerantz was Mr Little RICO brought in for this expertise, now he's quitting? This case was OVER. Manhattan DA must respond and resign
— Sandi Bachom (@sandibachom) February 23, 2022
The New York Times report also indicates that there is a civil investigation being conducted by Attorney General James when it comes to Trump's business practices.
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