Trump lawyer says he's 'disappointed' by the resignation letter of a Manhattan DA prosecutor — his former law partner — that accuses the ex-president of 'numerous felony violations'

Donald Trump's lawyer in a criminal investigation of the Trump Organization is a former partner with the prosecutor who quit with a blistering resignation letter.

• Former Manhattan DA prosecutor Mark Pomerantz left a blistering resignation letter, saying the DA should have brought criminal charges against Donald Trump.
• Ron Fischetti, his former law partner — and Trump's lawyer — told Insider he's disappointed by the letter.
• Fischetti said it was inappropriate to write the letter while the investigation continues.

In the 1980s and 1990s, Ron Fischetti and Mark Pomerantz ran a law firm together. The legendary attorneys' practice defended mobsters and politicians, making them among the most prominent criminal defense lawyers in New York.

In recent years, they've been on opposite sides of the table. Pomerantz — who was also one of the top prosecutors in the US Attorney's office in Manhattan — left private practice in early 2021 to help lead the Manhattan District Attorney's office's investigation into the Trump Organization's finances. Former President Donald Trump hired Fischetti to represent him personally.

When the New York Times on Wednesday published Pomerantz's letter of resignation from the DA's office, Fischetti felt disappointed in his former partner, he told Insider. He praised Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg, who took office in January, for rejecting Pomerantz's argument that prosecutors had collected enough evidence for a grand jury to bring criminal charges against Trump for "numerous felony violations."

"Quite frankly, I was surprised and disappointed that he left, and left a letter like that with regard to dealing with the district attorney, Mr. Bragg," Fischetti told Insider. "He has this reason for giving it, I'm sure. But I don't agree with them at all. And I don't believe he should have left the way he did."

Pomerantz resigned in February along with Carey Dunne, a former top deputy to now-former Manhattan DA Cyrus Vance Jr. The investigation — into whether the Trump Organization misrepresented its finances in a way that amounted to tax, bank, and insurance fraud — began under Vance's administration in 2019, and continues under Bragg.

Prosecutors in July brought one set of charges against the Trump Organization and its Chief Financial Officer Allen Weisselberg, who they alleged evaded tax payments on millions of dollars in benefits. Lawyers for Weisselberg and the company have denied wrongdoing.

Fischetti told Insider that he and Pomerantz last spoke in late June, shortly before the charges were brought against Weisselberg and the Trump Organization.

At the time, Fischetti said, Pomerantz said the DA's office did not plan to imminently bring charges against Trump. Pomerantz also said, according to Fischetti, that he'd talk to him personally if criminal charges were coming.

"I haven't spoken to him since June. We were on different sides arguing about whether or not Trump should be charged. And we had an agreement that Mark, if they made a decision to charge him, he would talk to me," Fischetti said.

Fischetti hasn't heard from anyone in the DA's office at all since that June meeting, he told Insider.

Pomerantz accused Trump of crimes as the investigation continues

Pomerantz and Dunne believed they had enough evidence to bring grand jury charges against Trump personally, according to the New York Times. Vance had also believed the evidence was ready, Pomerantz said in his letter.

When Bragg turned them down, saying the evidence against Trump wasn't yet sufficient, Pomerantz and Dunne walked.

"I and others believe that your decision not to authorize prosecution now will doom any future prospects that Mr. Trump will be prosecuted for the criminal conduct we have been investigating," Pomerantz wrote. "I fear that your decision means that Mr. Trump will not be held fully accountable for his crimes. I have worked too hard as a lawyer, and for too long, now to become a passive participant in what I believe to be a grave failure of justice."

The Manhattan DA's office office has declined to comment on specifics about the investigation because it is ongoing. Bragg hired Susan Hoffinger, another experienced white-collar criminal attorney, to take over the case.

"The investigation is ongoing. It's not over. And then he just picked up and wrote this letter," Fischetti said. "It's not the right thing to do. I think he's wrong for doing this. And it's very disappointing."

Before the publication of Pomerantz's letter by the Times, a records official for the DA's office told Insider that the letter could not be released under the state Freedom of Information Law because it reflected "internal deliberations and opinions." A representative for the Manhattan DA's office didn't immediately respond to Insider's questions about the publication of Pomerantz's letter and whether it affects the investigation.

Fischetti has separately been battling the office of New York Attorney General Letitia James, which is conducting a parallel, civil investigation into the Trump Organization's finances. He has sought to stop her office from deposing Trump, arguing in court that it's unfair to obtain his testimony while her office is also collaborating with the Manhattan DA's criminal investigation.

In the late 1990s, Pomerantz was in charge of the criminal division of the US Attorney's office in Manhattan. Part of that job, Fischetti said, involved reviewing evidence from other prosecutors and deciding if it was enough to bring criminal charges.

If one of those prosecutors wrote a letter blasting him for turning down their case, Fischetti said, Pomerantz probably wouldn't appreciate it.

"I don't think he'd like that," Fischetti said. So I don't think he should have done what he did, quite frankly."