Joe Raedle/Getty Images
- The Manhattan DA considered charging Trump with racketeering, a new book says.
- Mark Pomerantz, a former prosecutor in the DA's office, writes that he built a sweeping case against Trump, according to NYT.
- Bragg ultimately decided not to indict Trump, and Pomerantz and the other lead prosecutor resigned shortly after.
The Manhattan district attorney's office considered charging former President Donald Trump with racketeering in connection to his business practices, according to a new book by Mark Pomerantz, a former prosecutor in the DA's office.
In the months before he resigned, Pomerantz made a sweeping case that would've seen Trump indicted under New York's racketeering law, he writes in his forthcoming book, an early copy of which was obtained by The New York Times.
The DA's office ultimately decided not to indict the former president. Pomerantz and Carey Dunne, the two prosecutors leading the DA's investigation into Trump and his business empire, resigned early last year, shortly after Bragg elected not to move forward with a case against Trump.
In his resignation letter, Pomerantz wrote he had "no doubt" Trump was guilty of "numerous felony violations."
"His financial statements were false, and he has a long history of fabricating information relating to his personal finances and lying about his assets to banks, the national media, counterparties, and many others, including the American people," Pomerantz wrote. "The team that has been investigating Mr. Trump harbors no doubt about whether he committed crimes — he did."
The Times reported at the time that the investigation into Trump had stalled amid Bragg's hesitation to pursue charges, and that neither Pomerantz nor Dunne had questioned any witnesses before a grand jury in more than a month before they resigned.
"After closely reviewing all the evidence from Mr. Pomerantz's investigation, I came to the same conclusion as several senior prosecutors involved in the case, and also those I brought on: more work was needed," Bragg said in a statement. "Put another way, Mr. Pomerantz's plane wasn't ready for takeoff."
He added that Manhattan prosecutors are continuing to "follow the facts of this case wherever they may lead without fear or favor."
The DA's office charged the Trump Organization and its chief bookkeeper, Allen Weisselberg, with 15 felony counts in July 2021. Weisselberg pleaded guilty to the 15 charges in August, and the Trump Organization was convicted on all counts in December.
Pomerantz writes in his forthcoming book, "The People v. Donald Trump," that the former president built his business empire "through a pattern of criminal activity." He also compares Trump to the mafia boss John Gotti, according to The Times.
"He demanded absolute loyalty and would go after anyone who crossed him. He seemed always to stay one step ahead of the law," Pomerantz writes. "In my career as a lawyer, I had encountered only one other person who touched all of these bases: John Gotti, the head of the Gambino organized crime family."