NEW YORK — Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg wants to pause the publication of a tell-all book about his office’s investigation into Donald Trump — to make sure nothing confidential is spilled on its pages.
Bragg’s office claims the author, Mark Pomerantz — a veteran white-collar lawyer who blamed the DA when he quit the team investigating the ex-president — shirked a legal obligation to get permission to pen “People vs. Donald Trump.”
“Mr. Pomerantz has neither sought nor received approval to make disclosures relating to ongoing matters at the DA’s Office, and this Office has not reviewed any drafts or excerpts of his manuscript,” the DA’s lawyer Leslie Dubeck wrote Wednesday to attorneys for publisher Simon & Schuster, Paramount and Pomerantz.
“(Because) Mr. Pomerantz has been separated from the DA’s Office for nearly a year, he is not capable of making any assessment of whether the disclosures he intends to disseminate in this publication” could prejudice the probe, Dubeck wrote.
The DA asked the publisher to halt its release until prosecutors could conduct a “pre-publication review” to ensure the contents didn’t violate secrecy laws or jeopardize his ongoing investigation into Trump.
Bragg’s lawyer said details in the book Pomerantz gathered as a public servant but didn’t get permission to disclose equated to “unlawfully converting confidential government information for his personal advantage.”
In announcing the book’s Feb. 7 release, Simon & Schuster described it as “a fascinating inside account” of the attempt to prosecute Trump, by Pomerantz, who “resigned in protest when Manhattan’s district attorney refused to act.”
The DA copied the city Conflicts of Interest Board and the Department of Investigation on the letter.
“I am confident that all of my actions with respect to the Trump investigation, including the writing of my forthcoming book, are consistent with my legal and ethical obligations,” Pomerantz said Wednesday.
Pomerantz left high-powered law firm Paul, Weiss in early 2021, when he was hired by Bragg’s predecessor Cy Vance Jr. to oversee his extensive investigation into Trump.
He quit in February 2022 along with special prosecutor Carey Dunne when Bragg declined to bring an indictment against Trump based on the evidence the team gathered, despite Vance giving his blessing before he left office.
Pomerantz prosecuted former Gambino crime family boss John “Junior” Gotti and other mobsters in the 1990s. He held the prestigious post of head of the Southern District of New York’s criminal division from 1997 to 1999.
In his leaked resignation letter and a podcast interview, Pomerantz made no secret about his feelings about Bragg’s decision. He described the new DA’s hesitancy to bring charges against Trump as “misguided.”
In December Bragg’s won a conviction against the Trump Organization on tax fraud charges, resulting in $1.6 million in fines. The company’s chief financial officer, Allen Weisselberg, was sentenced to five months in jail last week for tax dodging.
On the heels of the company’s conviction, the DA has appeared to sharpen his focus on Trump. The former president’s lawyer and “fixer” was questioned by Bragg’s office on Tuesday. Prior to that, Cohen had no contact with the office since Pomerantz’s departure.
Representatives for Simon & Schuster and Paramount did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
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