Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr., who happens to be investigating Trump’s family business finances, said on Friday that he won’t seek re-election for a fourth term in 2022.
“I never imagined myself as district attorney for decades like my predecessors. I never thought of this as my last job, even though it’s the best job and biggest honour I’ll ever have. I said twelve years ago that change is fundamentally good and necessary for any institution. Having secured these lasting impacts in our communities, our public policy, and our crimefighting capacity, the time has come to open the pathway for new leadership at the Manhattan D.A.’s Office.”
Vance also said that his office will “work harder than ever” over the next nine months “to move justice forward in court cases large and small.”
The memo comes amid an ongoing and wide-ranging probe by the DA's office into several aspects of Trump's finances and businesses.
According to recent reports, the investigation has intensified after the US Supreme Court denied Trump's last-ditch effort to keep his tax records private at the beginning of the month. Trump’s ex-lawyer, who is now viewed as a key witness in the probe after meeting with investigators multiple times, called this decision a “holy grail” for the DA’s investigation.
Trump lashed out at the Democrats and New York Governor Andrew Cuomo after the Supreme Court ruling that green-lighted the disclosure of his financial records, accusing them of trying to continue “the greatest political witch hunt in the history of our country.”
Trump has been accusing Democrats of a politically-motivated “witch hunt” against him.