Trump Investigators Stay On as New Manhattan DA Names Team

(Bloomberg) -- Manhattan's new district attorney, Alvin Bragg, is keeping two senior lawyers from his predecessor's office who are deeply involved in the investigation of former president Donald Trump.

Bragg, who was sworn in over the weekend, announced members of his new leadership team on Monday. But Carey Dunne, who served as general counsel to former DA Cyrus Vance Jr., will stay on as special counsel under Bragg. And Mark Pomerantz, a seasoned litigator hired by Vance to serve as a special assistant district attorney in the Trump investigation, will also stay on, according to Richard Fife, a spokesman for Bragg.

Bragg has promised to bring a fresh approach to the office, which has been criticized for overlooking instances of police misconduct. His new leadership team reflects those views, starting with Meg Reiss, who will serve as Bragg's chief assistant district attorney, and recently served as chief of social justice in the King's County district attorney's office in Brooklyn. 

Bragg's decision to keep the Trump investigation team intact, and his recent comments that he intends to be directly involved in the three-year-old probe, suggest he won't be letting up on a historic case that could result in criminal charges being filed against a former president.

Vance's prosecutors fought a protracted battle -- involving two trips to the Supreme Court, where Dunne argued on behalf of the office -- to secure Trump's tax records. Last summer, Vance charged the Trump Organization and its longtime chief financial officer, Allen Weisselberg, with tax crimes related to the alleged underreporting of salaries and benefits. 

Vance's term expired before he could determine whether Trump himself should face criminal charges. 

Weisselberg has pleaded not guilty and is scheduled to go to trial this year. Trump has denied wrongdoing.

©2022 Bloomberg L.P.