Last night, New York’s Office of the Attorney General announced that its investigation of the Trump Organization has progressed from a civil to a criminal case. A civil case would involve something like, “We learned you’ve underpaid your taxes, and you have to pay a fine.” A criminal case investigates more serious, deliberate violations.
Of course, the attorney general is an elected official, who perhaps has a political incentive to play up her investigation, which means any announcement needs to be taken with a measure of skepticism. But, even allowing for Letitia James’s political ambitions, there is a sound public-interest rationale behind such an announcement: The American people need to be prepared for the fairly likely possibility that the former president will be prosecuted.
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