At a court hearing Monday, a lawyer from her office said the chief prosecutor was likely to take action against the former president in the near future. As her investigation is a civil one, Ms. James can file a lawsuit, but not a criminal one.
At that hearing, a judge accused Mr. Trump of contempt of court for failing to fully comply with a summons for Ms. James’ documents. And on Friday, although Mr. Trump’s lawyers filed documents that he said brought him into line with the subpoena, the judge refused to revoke the disrespect order, which cost Mr. Trump $ 10,000 a day.
Mr Trump has long denied wrongdoing and accused Ms James and Mr Bragg, both black and Democrat, of being politically motivated “racists”. If he is eventually tried or charged, his lawyers are likely to point to the disclaimer that his financial statements were not audited by his accountants and that they were provided to complex financial institutions that conducted their own due diligence.
Mr Bragg’s office is monitoring Ms James’ civil investigation for potential new clues, he said. And Ms. James’ office is involved in the district attorney’s criminal investigation opened by Mr. Bragg’s predecessor, Cyrus R. Vance Jr., more than three years ago.
In December, Mr. Vance ordered the two senior prosecutors leading the criminal investigation, Mark F. Pomerantz and Kerry R. Dunn, to present evidence to a grand jury to prosecute Mr. Trump.
But when Mr Bragg took office this year, he and several aides expressed concern about the gravity of the case, asking if they could prove Mr Trump’s intention to break the law. Other prosecutors at the office have expressed similar concerns, said people familiar with the matter. In the last months of Mr Vance’s term, three assistant district attorneys have stopped working on the investigation, worried about how fast it is going and what they say are gaps in the evidence against the former president.
Trump’s investigations
Map 1 of 6
Many inquiries. There have been many investigations and investigations into his business and personal affairs since former President Donald Trump left office. Here is a list of those that continue:
Eventually, Mr Bragg decided to suspend the grand jury’s presentation, which led to the departure of Mr Dunn and Mr Pomerantz, who said in their resignation letters that they believed Mr Trump was “guilty of many crimes. “
Add Comment