New York’s Governor Has Authority to Take Charge of the Case, But Will She?
We hope DCReport followers will read my op-ed essay in today’s New York Daily News on how to revive the moribund criminal investigation of Donald Trump by the Manhattan district attorney’s office.
That op-ed begins:
For more than two years, seasoned Manhattan prosecutors, working with two grand juries, investigated Donald Trump’s finances, coming to the firm conclusion that the former president has committed numerous crimes. But when prosecutors Mark Pomerantz and Carey Dunne recommended an indictment earlier this year, Alvin Bragg, the newly elected Manhattan district attorney, rejected their advice.
There is no reason for Bragg’s cold feet to be the end of the efforts to prosecute Trump and perhaps his confederates because the New York Constitution and state statutes provide a simple way to revive this moribund criminal investigation. And there is nothing Bragg can do to stop it.
All Gov. Hochul needs to do is exercise her authority under Article 63, Section 2 of New York’s executive law to remove Bragg and appoint state Attorney General Letitia James to take over the case.
Although such action is rare, the governor’s authority to replace any county district attorney with the state attorney general is nearly unfettered…
The rest of my piece is available at https://www.nydailynews.com/opinion/ny-oped-trump-prosecution-can-continue-20220325-otvwiq3gzza5nlfqpf75zsupcu-story.html
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What You Can Do:
Call Gov. Kathy Hochul at her office and tell her to appoint Letitia James as the superseding prosecutor with an order granting broad criminal authority: 518-474-8390.
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The paper also ran an editorial. It said that “Gov. Hochul should do as David Cay Johnston suggests in his Daily News op-ed.”
Please feel free to tell others about this through emails, social media and making {DF copies of this report and sending them to others.