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A former special assistant district attorney in Manhattan who investigated Donald Trump said Sunday night that there are “lots of bits and pieces of evidence” that the district attorney could use to bring criminal charges against the former president. .
Mark Pomeranz, a former senior prosecutor on the Manhattan DA’s team investigating Trump and his organization’s business dealings, said prosecutors with similar evidence against anyone other than the former president could have filed charges in a “flat second.” proceed with
Pomeranz made the comments in a “60 Minutes” interview promoting a new book about his time investigating Trump. He pointed to evidence he had access to during the investigation — one of the principals, that Trump personally signed off on inflated net worth to get more favorable bank loans.
“There were a lot of bits and pieces of evidence that we could rely on to build this case,” Pomerantz told CBS’ Bill Whittaker.
New York Attorney General Letitia James, a Democrat, filed a civil suit against Trump, his grown children and others, alleging that they made false financial statements to obtain favorable loan and insurance rates and tax treatment. have engaged in a decade-long fraud by using The burden of proof in a civil case is lower than that required by the prosecution to prove a criminal case. Trump has called the case politically motivated and has denied any wrongdoing.
The allegations come nearly a year after Pomeranz resigned from the DA’s office in protest and days before the release of his new book, which prompted pushback from District Attorney Alvin Bragg.
Pomerantz resigned after Bragg was sworn into office, refusing to give him the green light to indict Trump. The district attorney’s office previously brought tax fraud charges against the Trump Organization and Chief Financial Officer Alan Wesselberg, who pleaded guilty.
Pomerantz resigned last February along with General Counsel Carrie Dunn.
“Would this case have been indicted if you had taken the exact same course of action — and made it not about Donald Trump and not about the former president of the United States? He would have been indicted in a flat second. would have been imposed,” Pomerantz said Sunday. He called the decision not to bring up Bragg’s case a “gross miscarriage of justice”.
Pomerantz’s claims detailed in his forthcoming book have drawn the ire of his former boss and the DA’s Association of the State of New York, who claim that a former prosecutor is not allowed to speak about a case he was a part of. That could damage its integrity.
Bragg’s office asked for the book to be reviewed before publication because of concerns that it would reveal information obtained from a grand jury. Simon & Schuster, the publisher, went ahead with the publication.
“After carefully reviewing all of the evidence from Mr. Pomerantz’s investigation, I have come to the same conclusion as many of the senior prosecutors involved in this case, and those I brought in: More work is needed. Another Put simply, Mr. Pomerantz’s plane was not ready for takeoff,” Bragg said in a statement.
Bragg added that he “hasn’t read the book, and won’t comment on any ongoing investigation because it would damage the case. But I hope there will be at least one part where Mr. Pomerantz His former colleagues will recognize how much he has accomplished in the past year since his departure on the Trump issue.
In January, a New York judge fined the Trump Organization $1.6 million — the maximum possible fine — for running a decade-long tax fraud scheme, a symbolic moment because it is the only conviction of a former president. has come close to .
Two of Trump’s entities, The Trump Corporation and Trump Payroll Corporation, were convicted of 17 felony counts last year, including tax fraud and falsifying business records. Trump himself has never been charged or convicted.
Pomerantz on Sunday expanded on what evidence he believes he has against Trump, including Trump’s signature on a Deutsche Bank loan confirming that all of his financial statements were accurate. .
“He warrants that the financial statements are true and correct in all material respects. His signature on the surety is, of course, Donald J. Trump,” Pomeranz said. He also alleged that he had such There are documents that prove Trump knew the exact size of his 10,996-square-foot Fifth Avenue condominium, but still lied, claiming in 2015 and 2016 accounting documents that it was really 30,000 square feet.
It was previously reported that some prosecutors did not believe they had enough evidence to prove Trump’s intent and lacked a credible narrator to explain how the financial statements were compiled. .
In a letter to Pomeranz, Trump’s lawyer threatened legal action against the former prosecutor if he released the book. The lawyer, Joe Tacopina, said in a statement that Pomerantz’s “desperate attempt to sell books will cost him everything. Not to mention, it’s clear that he was in the vast minority in his position that President Trump committed a crime.”
In the book, published Tuesday, Pomeranz compares Trump to Gambino organized crime family boss John Gotti, according to an updated copy obtained by The New York Times, and describes the complex investigation. , in which many people were seen close to the former. The president is accused of crimes.
Meanwhile, Bragg’s office last week stepped up its investigation into Trump’s alleged role in paying adult film star Stormy Daniels to hush up allegations of an affair. Trump has denied the matter.
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