According to a new report from The New York Times, former federal prosecutor Mark Pomerantz has joined the team handling the criminal investigation of ex-President Donald Trump and his business at the Manhattan district attorney’s office. Pomerantz will “help scrutinize financial dealings at the former president’s company, according to several people with knowledge of the matter,” according to the publication.
As the Times also reported, the investigation led by Manhattan District Attorney Cy Vance “is focused on possible tax and bank-related fraud, including whether the Trump Organization misled its lenders or local tax authorities about the value of his properties to obtain loans and tax benefits.” As part of its probe, Vance’s office has examined a slew of Trump properties, ranging from his infamous Trump Tower in New York City to his company’s Seven Springs estate in Westchester County. The office of New York state Attorney General Letitia James has also examined that property, where the Trump family business claimed an abnormally highly valued conservation easement, which provided them with a tax benefit.
Danny Frost, who serves as a Vance spokesperson, confirmed that Pomerantz “was sworn in earlier this month to serve as a special assistant district attorney,” the Times says. The Vance investigation has already included a substantial list of subpoenas to interests ranging from longtime Trump lender Deutsche Bank to the Trump Organization itself. According to the Times, the ex-president’s family business “turned over some of those records last month, though the prosecutors have questioned whether the company has fully responded to the subpoena.” Vance’s office has been pursuing financial records including Trump’s tax returns, but they are currently awaiting a second ruling from the U.S. Supreme Court amidst a legal battle over whether they will get the files.
Besides this investigation, Trump is also facing a recently launched criminal investigation from Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis, whose jurisdiction is in the Atlanta area. She and her team are examining Trump’s efforts to subvert the documented presidential election outcome in the state, including a phone conversation in which Trump implored Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger (R) to “find” enough votes to make Trump Georgia’s winner. Complying with Trump’s demand would have required fraudulently doctoring the numbers.
