After the attorney general’s office announced Tuesday that it was cooperating with the Manhattan district attorney in an ongoing federal fraud investigation, New York investigators increased their pressure on Donald J. Trump and his family. For more than a year, the two offices have been conducting concurrent investigations, but the one led by New York Attorney General Letitia James is a civil one that may result in a complaint or fines. Cyrus R. Vance Jr., the Manhattan district attorney, has been conducting a criminal investigation that may result in charges.
The latest development was revealed after the attorney general’s office sent a letter to the Trump Organization in recent days informing it that information gathered as part of the civil investigation could now be used in a criminal investigation. In a statement, Fabien Levy, a spokesman for Ms. James, said, “We have told the Trump Organization that our investigation into the organization is no longer strictly civil in nature.” “In collaboration with the Manhattan District Attorney, we are currently conducting a criminal investigation into the Trump Organization. At this time, we have no further comment.”
Mr. Trump described the efforts as an “investigation in desperate pursuit of a crime” in a statement released on Wednesday. Mr. Trump, a Republican, criticized both investigations as politically motivated fishing expeditions, as he has in the past. Mr. Vance and Ms. James are also members of the Democratic Party. Mr. Trump said, “I’ve created a great business, employing thousands of people, and all I do is get falsely criticized and insulted by a crooked political system.”
The Manhattan district attorney’s long-running criminal investigation has focused on a variety of alleged financial crimes at the Trump Organization, including tax and bank-related fraud. Prosecutors are looking into whether Mr. Trump’s company inflated the value of his assets to get better loans and then depreciated them to save money on taxes.
According to people familiar with the situation, the district attorney’s office has been focusing on Mr. Trump’s long-serving chief financial officer, Allen Weissenberg, for months, mounting an aggressive campaign to obtain his cooperation against Mr. Trump and the Trump Organization. The district attorney has subpoenaed documents from Mr. Weissenberg’s bank and the private school where his grandchildren attended in Manhattan as part of this campaign.
What part Ms. James’ office will play in that aspect of the investigation is unknown. According to people familiar with the situation, two assistant attorneys general from Ms. James’ office will join the district attorney’s team as part of the collaboration.
Her office, on the other hand, would not conduct its own independent criminal investigation. Her civil investigation, which focuses on some of the same strands as the district attorney’s sweeping criminal investigation, is also ongoing. Both offices have been looking at some of the same Trump properties, including his Westchester County estate, Seven Springs. Mr. Vance’s office received eight years’ worth of Mr. Trump’s tax returns, among other financial documents, as part of its investigation, but only after Mr. Trump opposed the move vehemently, culminating in a long-running legal fight that twice reached the United States Supreme Court.
