FBI agents are probing the Manhattan district attorney’s
office over its handling of high-profile cases that were dropped once lawyers
for the well-connected subjects made donations, reported the New York Daily News.
Investigators have been quietly seeking information in
recent months about decision-making by DA Cy Vance Jr. and his staff, sources
with knowledge of the undertaking said.
The queries are centered on how things are handled in the
office and who the major players are, the sources said. The FBI interest grew
out of revelations that investigations were closed once lawyers representing
the bigwig suspects made hefty donations to Vance’s campaign coffers, sources
said.
The team has asked about current and former high-level staff
members and their relationships to private law firms and outside agencies,
sources said. Investigators are considering whether undue influence was at
play.
The extent of the inquiry was not immediately known and it
was not clear whether criminal charges were being considered.
Manhattan’s top prosecutor came under fire last year after
questions surfaced about his office’s 2015 decision not to go after
ex-Hollywood mogul Harvey Weinstein after model Ambra Battilana accused him of
groping her breasts in his Tribeca office.
A lawyer hired by Weinstein at the time had given Vance
$24,000 and another attorney sent him $10,000 after the decision to spare the
powerful producer an arrest.
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