The story that is being reported in The
NY Times, Politico,
and elsewhere is that Alvin Bragg, the Manhattan District Attorney, and his two
subordinate prosecutors, Pomerantz and Dunne, see the facts differently. According
to reports in the mainstream media, Pomerantz and Dunne want the grand jury
proceedings to continue, and that they remain ready to make representations before
a judge that the life of the current grand jury should be extended. According
to this view, the stick-in-the-mud is Bragg. Because he thinks the legal case
is weak, he is for allowing the grand jury proceedings and investigation to
terminate. Hence, the resignations by the frontline prosecutors.
The problem with that story is that there are no
statements in the record from Bragg, Pomerantz, or Dunne. The media’s sources
are all confidential and off-the-record, and naturally, such sources (if they
exist all all) often have their own agendas.
Here is another possibility.
Pomerantz and Dunne know they have, at best, a
weak case. Perhaps, they have no case at all. They are consummate legal professionals and
are wholly unwilling to make knowingly false representations before the judge—who
has oversight over the grand jury and who has lawful authority to extend the
grand jury’s term. If so, why the resignations? Perhaps because Bragg has told
them: “Do whatever is necessary to extend the life of the grand jury, and swear
out whatever certification you must before the judge—Do it or you are fired.”
So, instead of being fired, Pomerantz and Dunne resigned.
Pomerantz and Dunne are bound by ethics rules in
regard to grand jury testimony secrecy. But, apparently, someone is talking to the media.
This is how we will know who wants the grand jury probe terminated and who wants
its life extended. If Bragg shops around for new prosecutors and they decide to
restart the investigatory process before a newly impanelled grand jury, then that likely
means that Bragg wants—and has always wanted—the investigations to go forward. Otherwise,
it was Bragg who was for closing the investigation down.
Which theory is more likely?
Seth
Seth Barrett Tillman, ‘The Manhattan District Attorney’s Trump Probe,’ New Reform Club (Feb. 25, 2022, 8:54 AM), <https://reformclub.blogspot.com/2022/02/the-manhattan-district-attorneys-trump.html>;
