Manhattan DA investigating Trump says he won’t seek reelection

Cy Vance Jr., the Manhattan district attorney investigating former President Trump’s finances, says he won’t seek reelection.

Vance’s office on Friday posted a memo sent to his staff saying he wouldn’t seek reelection for a fourth term in office in 2022.

“Representing the People of New York during this pivotal era for our city and our justice system has been the privilege of a lifetime,” Vance, a Democrat, said in the memo.

“When I ran for this job in 2009, I said that a District Attorney’s responsibilities should extend beyond obtaining convictions in court, and that a 21st century prosecutor’s mandate is to move our justice system and our community forward. Working in partnership with Manhattan communities, the D.A.’s Office we built together over the last decade has taken us beyond the ambitious blueprint we laid out in 2009,” he said.

The news comes as the Manhattan district attorney’s office is investigating President Trump and his businesses and finances. It was reported on Tuesday that the inquiry was intensifying, with the DA’s office expanding it into business dealings around the Seven Springs Estate.

Trump’s ex-lawyer Michael Cohen was interviewed for the seventh time as part of the investigation on Wednesday.

Vance’s office obtained Trump’s tax returns last month from accounting firm Mazars USA following a legal dispute over access to the documents.

The probe began in 2018 to investigate hush money payments that Trump made to women during the 2016 presidential election.

Sources told CNN that Vance is likely to decide whether to charge a case or close the investigation by the end of the year. 

During his time in office, Vance was also responsible for prosecuting disgraced Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein, who is serving a 23-year prison sentence over sexual assault.