Reviewed additional documents
Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg says he hasn’t given up on the Trump investigation.
The Manhattan district attorney, Alvin Bragg, publicly discussed his office’s investigation into Donald J. Trump for the first time on Thursday, insisting that the inquiry has continued despite the recent resignations of two senior prosecutors who had been leading it.
Did they just misunderstand?
Mr. Bragg said in an interview that his office had recently questioned new witnesses about Mr. Trump and reviewed additional documents, both previously unreported steps in the inquiry.
But citing grand jury secrecy rules, Mr. Bragg declined to provide details on the new steps in the investigation, which has focused on whether Mr. Trump committed a crime in inflating the value of his hotels, golf clubs and other properties.
I wonder if it’s really focused on whether he did as opposed to whether they can prove it in court. Not the same things.
In December, Mr. Bragg’s predecessor, Cyrus R. Vance Jr., directed the two senior prosecutors leading the inquiry, Mark F. Pomerantz and Carey R. Dunne, to present evidence to a grand jury with the goal of seeking an indictment of Mr. Trump. Mr. Bragg, two months into his tenure, halted that presentation after disagreeing with Mr. Pomerantz and Mr. Dunne on the strength of the case.
Their subsequent resignations led to public criticism of Mr. Bragg, particularly after The New York Times published a copy of Mr. Pomerantz’s resignation letter, in which he said he believed that the former president was “guilty of numerous felony violations” and that it was “a grave failure of justice” not to hold him accountable. In the letter, Mr. Pomerantz also said that the investigation had been “suspended indefinitely.”
It’s reminiscent of the chickenshit club – what James Comey called prosecutors who were proud of never losing cases when he worked in the office of the SDNY US Attorney, because it hinted they avoided taking on cases they were likely to lose.
It also looks like Trump, egging on the ‘useful idiots’ and sundry stooges on from the safety of the sidelines, was into a game of ‘Let’s you and them fight,’ straight out of the Eric Berne classic.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Games_People_Play_(book)
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/01/18/us/politics/trump-jan-6-riot.html
Honestly, it shouldn’t be. Take his property tax filings on the hotels, casinos, etc, and compare them to the loan submissions. Then ask them under oath which number is true. Then charge with either fraud or tax evasion, accordingly.
It could actually be both. The properties might be worth some other amount, sort of between the two reports.
Well, I know, but I’m pretty sure the people in the DA’s office know that too, and that it’s not quite that simple. Not least because billionaire-friendly politicians have made sure it’s not that simple.
Omar @1 Reminds me of the stupid comment Trump made about painting Chinese flags on US fighter jets and bombing Russia. That’s some textbook let’s-you-and-him-fight thinking from the mind of an illiterate 9 year old.
@#5:
That is a gratuitous insult to the illiterate 9 year olds of the world. I simply will not stand for it. Toddlers perhaps. But as far as I can gather Trump’s own literacy level and personal library is not so vast. It would not surprise me to learn it is limited to The Little Golden Library and short works with plenty of pictures that he can personally colour in with his very own set of crayons.
Apologies to illiterate 9 year olds everywhere. You’re quite right Omar. :D