Trump attorney threatens to sue ex-prosecutor who wrote book “People vs. Donald Trump” about Manhattan DA investigation

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A former prosecutor who plans to release a book about the criminal investigation into former President Donald Trump that he led for nearly a year warned Monday to expect a lawsuit.

Former Manhattan Special Assistant District Attorney Mark Pomerantz concluded that Trump’s approach to business is similar to that of former mob boss John Gotti, and deserves to be prosecuted, according to a press release for the book, “People vs . Donald Trump: An Inside Account.” It’s a description that doesn’t fit Trump attorney Joseph Tacopina.

“I strongly advise you to take these next words seriously: If you publish such a book and continue to make defamatory statements against my clients, my office will aggressively pursue all legal remedy,” Tacopina wrote in a letter to Pomerantz Monday, alleging defamation.

Pomerantz defended the book in a statement to CBS News.

“If I am sued by the former president, I will defend that lawsuit. I stand by the statements I made previously and those contained in my upcoming book,” Pomerantz said.

Pomerantz was hired in February 2021 by former Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr. to lead that office’s year-long investigation into Trump’s finances. Pomerantz left the post in February 2022, claiming in his resignation letter that newly elected Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg declined to indict Trump.

Pomerantz wrote in his resignation letter that he believed “Donald Trump is guilty of multiple felony violations” and advised Bragg “that we have sufficient evidence to establish Mr. Trump’s guilt.” Bragg, he wrote, “raised issues about the legal and factual sufficiency of our case and the likelihood of a prosecution succeeding.”

Bragg declined to comment on the resignation letter, but insisted the Trump investigation remains active. He said after the Trump Organization’s January 13 conviction for tax fraud that the investigation was entering the “next chapter.”

In recent months, investigators have revisited some of the earliest threads of the investigation, including alleged “hush money” paid in 2016 by former Trump lawyer Michael Cohen to adult film star Stormy Daniels .

Cohen himself was interviewed by investigators at the office on January 17.

“They’re professionals, and they’re going to do their job,” Cohen said after the two-hour meeting.

Bragg’s office also sought to stop Pomerantz’s book. His office’s general counsel, Leslie Dubeck, wrote in a Jan. 18 letter to Pomerantz, publisher Simon & Schuster and parent company Paramount Global, that Pomerantz “is under an obligation to receive prior written permission from the DA’s Office before making any disclosures” related. in the investigation.

A spokesperson for Simon & Schuster said the company stands “behind Mark Pomerantz and his book, People vs. Donald Trump, and looks forward to sharing this important and timely work with readers when it is published in February 7.”

Simon & Schuster, like CBS, is part of Paramount Global.

Both Dubeck and Tacopina were concerned that Pomerantz’s book might include confidential information.

Dubeck wrote that “there is a significant risk that publication will materially prejudice the ongoing criminal investigation.”

Tacopina warned against publishing “information obtained in violation of grand jury secrecy laws.”

“Consider yourself sufficiently warned. Yours truly, Joseph Tacopina,” he wrote.

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Graham Kates

Graham Kates is an investigative reporter covering criminal justice, privacy and information security issues for CBS News Digital. Contact Graham at [email protected] or [email protected]

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