When some two dozen New Yorkers entered a Manhattan courthouse this week to wrap up their grand jury service, the case against a man who would have been the world’s most prominent criminal defendant was no longer before them.
That man, Donald J. Trump, may have been criminally charged by the grand jury this year for his business practices. But in the weeks since Manhattan District Attorney Alvin L. Bragg stopped presenting evidence to the jurors about Mr. Trump, new signs have emerged that the former president may not be, if at all, for the foreseeable future. will be indicted in Manhattan.
At least three of the witnesses who were once central to the case have not heard from the prosecutor for months or have not been asked to testify, according to people with knowledge.
In recent weeks, a prosecutor at the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office, who played a key role in the investigation, has stopped focusing on a potential case against Mr. Trump, other people with knowledge of the investigation said — a move following the resignation earlier this year of the two senior prosecutors leading the investigation.
And the remaining prosecutors working on the Trump investigation have left the “war room” they used to prepare their grand jury presentation early this year, people said, leaving behind an expansive office suite and conference room on the 15th. deepening of the prosecutor. office in lower Manhattan.
The expiration of the grand jury at the end of the month doesn’t preclude prosecutors from appointing another jury, but the developments underscore the reduced likelihood of Mr. Trump being charged under Mr. Bragg, who, along with several other prosecutors, expressed concerns about proving the case. Some people close to the investigation believe it won’t lead to charges against the former president unless a witness unexpectedly cooperates — an opportunity in an investigation that’s been going on for more than three years.
In recent weeks, Mr. Bragg’s prosecutors have issued a few additional subpoenas indicating that they are continuing the investigation, but have not found a new avenue to indict Mr. Trump. The previously unreported subpoenas, those with knowledge of the case said, appear to focus on the same topic that has long been the subject of the investigation: whether Mr. Trump has improperly inflated the value of his assets in financial statements.
The subpoenas suggest that, Instead of pursuing a new theory of the case, Bragg looks at other entities that received Trump’s financial statements while he was seeking loans and pursuing other business, and that prosecutors are looking for potential victims of the former president.
One of the subpoenas went to a major financial institution that may have received Mr Trump’s financial statements. A second subpoena sent to the Trump Organization largely followed an earlier demand from the company for data regarding the value of its properties. And the third went to the New York City agency that tracks municipal salespeople, including Mr. Trump, who has done business with the city for years by operating a golf course in the Bronx and an ice rink in Central Park.
In an interview this month, Mr. Bragg said his prosecutors were questioning new witnesses and looking at additional evidence. He declined to provide details, citing the grand jury’s nondisclosure law, but said the investigation should be allowed.
“It’s a work in progress,” said Mr. Bragg, and he later added, “We have experienced prosecutors at work every day. It won’t be on a timeline.”
But impressing a new grand jury can present challenges for any potential case. Trump’s lawyers could argue — and a judge might agree — that prosecutors were improperly hunting for a more favorable group of jurors.
It would also take time to prepare a new presentation of evidence and months to present a case to the jurors.
The office of mr. Bragg doesn’t have unlimited time to get Mr. to sue Trump. Witnesses may forget important information. Prosecutors would also face a deadline to file charges within five years of any crimes being committed, although there are some exceptions that extend the deadline. And if Mr. Trump were to announce another presidential run, Mr. Bragg would likely face political pressure not to charge a leading White House contender.
But even as the criminal investigation fades from the public eye, New York Attorney General Letitia James appears poised to take action against Mr. Trump as part of her investigation into whether he’s the falsely inflated the value of its assets in financial statements – the same conduct at the heart of the criminal investigation.
In a court hearing on Monday — in which a judge despised Mr Trump in court for failing to fully comply with a subpoena for Ms. James’ records — an attorney from her office said the attorney general would likely take action against the former attorney general. president in the near future. Because her investigation is a civil matter, Ms. James can file a lawsuit, but not criminal charges.
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 ultimately sued or charged, his attorneys will likely point to the disclaimer that his financial statements have not been audited by his accountants and have been filed with sophisticated financial institutions that have conducted their own due diligence.
The office of Mrs. James is also participating in the District Attorney’s Criminal Investigation, which was opened more than three years ago by Mr. Bragg’s predecessor, Cyrus R. Vance Jr..
In December, Mr. Vance instructed the two senior prosecutors who led the criminal investigation, Mark F. Pomerantz and Carey R. Dunne, to present evidence to a grand jury for the indictment of Mr. to get Trump.
But when Mr. Bragg took office this year, he and some of his associates expressed concern about the strength of the case, questioning whether they could prove that Mr. Trump intended to break the law. Other prosecutors at the office had expressed similar concerns, people with knowledge of the case said. In the final months of Mr. Vance’s tenure, three assistant district attorneys dropped out of the investigation, concerned about how quickly things were moving and what they believe were gaps in the evidence against the former president.
Bragg eventually decided to drop the grand jury presentation, prompting the departure of Mr. Dunne and Mr. Pomerantz, who stated in his letter of resignation that he believed Mr Trump was “guilty of numerous crimes.”
Just weeks after their departure, Solomon Shinerock, one of the team’s chief prosecutors, stopped investigating Mr Trump. Shinerock, who for many years served as the lead assistant district attorney in the investigation, withdrew in part because it appeared to be coming to an end, two of those familiar with the investigation said.
The Daily Beast first reported that Mr Shinerock was no longer actively involved in the investigation.
While mr. Shinerock Mr. Trump is not investigating, he is still working on a Trump-related case. In July, Manhattan prosecutors indicted the Trump Organization and its longtime Chief Financial Officer, Allen H. Weisselberg, accusing them of a year-long tax evasion scheme.
The Trump Investigations
Countless questions. Since former President Donald Trump left office, there have been many investigations and investigations into his businesses and personal affairs. Here is a list of the current ones:
Mr. Shinerock is playing a central role in preparing for that process and from that role participates in meetings where the investigation into Mr. Trump is discussed, said a person with knowledge of the meetings.
In this month’s interview, Bragg said no one had left the Trump team since Dunne and Pomerantz. Asked this week to clarify his comments, Mr. Bragg’s spokeswoman stood by them and said there was one “dedicated team working on the indicted tax case and the Trump investigation.”
The team is led by Susan Hoffinger, an experienced district attorney appointed by Mr. Bragg to head the firm’s investigative department.
The spokeswoman, Danielle Filson, said in a statement that the team consisted of “lawyers who have spent years working on the case and skilled new prosecutors with decades of experience and fresh eyes.”
She declined to say how many prosecutors and other personnel have been assigned to the team investigating Mr Trump, but said it was “actively exploring new avenues.”
In the early days of Bragg’s tenure, core members of the Trump team took over a conference room on the 15th floor as they continued to present evidence about the former president to a grand jury. But since Mr. Pomerantz and Mr. Dunne’s resignations, the team has vacated that room — an indication, office veterans say, the case isn’t going to a grand jury anytime soon. The team members are now in offices of the Bureau of Major Economic Crimes.
Bragg has told aides the investigation could continue if new evidence is unearthed, or if a Trump Organization insider decides to turn on the former president, people with knowledge of the talks said. Under Mr. Vance, the prosecutors tried for months to obtain Mr. Weisselberg’s cooperation, but without success.
Mr. Pomerantz and Mr. Dunne had considered indicting Mr. Trump for the crime of falsifying company records, a low-profile crime. Asked whether he was still considering those charges, or allegations regarding the possibility that Mr. Trump had inflated the value of his assets on his financial statements, Mr. Bragg said prosecutors were reviewing and seeing new evidence. how it looks in the overall picture.
But Mr Pomerantz warned in his resignation letter that time was of the essence, noting, “These facts are already dated and our ability to determine what happened may diminish over time.”
Kate Christobek† David Enrich and Nate Schweber reporting contributed.