NEW YORK — A pair of Manhattan prosecutors heading the probe into former President Donald Trump and his finances abruptly resigned Wednesday — although the investigation remained ongoing.
The sudden and shocking development, initially reported by The New York Times, was confirmed by the Manhattan district attorney’s office. Carey Dunne and Mark Pomerantz exited after their new boss, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, indicated he had doubts about proceeding with the case against Trump, the Times reported.
No explanation was given by either the prosecutors or Bragg’s office for the unexpected turn of events as a Manhattan grand jury hears evidence in the case against Trump. The probe was launched by the current DA’s predecessor Cy Vance Jr., with Bragg taking over this past Jan. 1.
A witness in the case against Trump confirmed the case had slowed to a halt in recent weeks, with prosecutors last reaching out a month ago.
Pomerantz, who prosecuted former Gambino crime family boss John “Junior” Gotti and other mobsters in the 1990s, was brought in one year ago by Vance as a special assistant district attorney in the Trump probe.
“We are grateful for their service,” Manhattan DA spokeswoman Danielle Filson said of the departed prosecutors. “The investigation is ongoing. We can’t comment further.”
There was no immediate response from one-time New Yorker Trump, who now resides in Florida. And Bragg’s office offered no details beyond confirming the departure of the two prosecutors.
Former Trump adviser Michael Cohen, who testified in the investigation against his estranged boss, was stunned by the development.
“Mark Pomerantz and Carey Dunne just resigned?” Cohen said when contacted by the New York Daily News. “What? Wow. ”
Cohen, who spent more than 300 hours being grilled by Pomerantz and Dunne, was rattled by word of the exits.
“I am deeply disturbed by this report,” he said. “I know the information in the N.Y. DA’s possession — and not to indict is a dereliction of duty to all New Yorkers and the country.”
New York state Attorney General Letitia James is still conducting her own probe into Trump and last week received a judge’s approval to grill Trump and two of his adult children. While she cannot criminally pursue the Trumps, she can sue the former chief executive.
The DA’s investigation led to indictments on tax-related charges in the summer of 2021 against the Trump Organization and Allen Weisselberg, its longtime chief financial officer. Both entered pleas of not guilty against the allegations.
Prosecutors accused Weisselberg of collecting more than $1.7 million in unreported compensation, including apartment rent, car payments and school tuition.
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