Manhattan prosecutors conducting criminal investigation into Trump resign

The Manhattan district attorney's criminal investigation into former President Donald Trump's business dealings hit a snag on Wednesday when the two prosecutors leading the probe resigned without warning or explanation, The New York Times reported.

According to the Times, "the prosecutors, Carey R. Dunne and Mark F. Pomerantz, submitted their resignations after the new Manhattan district attorney, Alvin Bragg, indicated to them that he had doubts about moving forward with a case against Mr. Trump."

The investigation began under Bragg's predecessor, Cyrus Vance Jr., as a probe into whether Trump paid hush money to porn star Stormy Daniels but now focuses on whether he defrauded lenders by overinflating the value of his assets. Vance retired at the end of 2021 after three terms.

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The special grand jury investigating Trump reportedly has not questioned any witnesses in more than a month.

This setback for the investigation comes less than a week after what many saw as a major breakthrough in the parallel civil investigation being conducted by New York Attorney General Letitia James. A judge ruled on Thursday that Trump and his two eldest children — Ivanka Trump and Donald Trump Jr. — must testify under oath, though Trump could choose to invoke his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination.

This could be good news for the former president, whose recent legal setbacks led Washington Post columnist George Conway to speculate that "the beginning of the end for Trump" may have arrived.

Trump is also facing three lawsuits, which a judge declined to dismiss on Friday, alleging that he incited the Jan. 6 Capitol riot. In Georgia, a special grand jury is investigating whether he broke the law when he urged Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger (R) to "find" enough votes to overturn President Biden's victory.