The New York Times reports:
The move increased the investigative muscle looking into the former president and his family business.
Donald J. Trump and his family came under increasing pressure from New York investigators after the attorney general’s office said Tuesday it was working alongside the Manhattan district attorney in an ongoing criminal fraud investigation.
The two offices have been conducting parallel investigations for more than a year, though the inquiry by the office of New York’s attorney general, Letitia James, has been a civil one, meaning it could result in a lawsuit or fines. The Manhattan district attorney, Cyrus R. Vance Jr., has been conducting a criminal investigation, which could result in charges.
If I read the report correctly, James will still be pursuing a civil case against the Trumps, but her office will be working with Manhattan DA Cyrus Vance on related criminal charges which overlap with the civil matters.
Given the complexity of the issues, the political aspects, and the glacial pace of legal actions against rich white people at the best of times, there’s a fair chance that Trump might pull off a Ken Lay given his age and health and the probability of multiple appeals of any convictions. Abatement ab Initio might get Trump off the hook posthumously — but there’s still the rest of the family and associates.
And all of this is assuming the GOP won’t have managed to rig elections sufficiently to put him back in the White House in 2024...
In any case, odds are it’s going to be a long time before further developments occur in this saga. I am not a lawyer, so take my speculation with a huge grain of salt. At least Trump doesn’t have twitter at his disposal at the moment. The reaction from him and his cult will not be pretty in any case.