Letitia James

Rudy Giuliani on Wednesday lashed out a Manhattan District Attorney Cy Vance, Jr. over what he said is an "illegal" investigation into former President Donald Trump.

Real America's Voice host Steve Bannon asked Giuliani about the criminal investigation after Vance reportedly empaneled a grand jury, suggesting that an indictment could be on the horizon. According to reports, New York Attorney General Letitia James has also joined the investigation.

While the criminal investigations of former President Donald Trump often make the news with fresh developments, many of these revelations don't truly amount to much. On Tuesday, though, there was a significant exception to this pattern when multiple reports found that New York DA Cy Vance, who is working with the state's Attorney General Letitia James, has impaneled a special grand jury of his investigation of Trump and the Trump Organization. This suggests that serious charges may be on the horizon.

After the news broke, New York Times reporter Maggie Haberman, a longtime close observer of the president, explained how he will fight back against the investigations as it threatens to ensnare him or his interests.

In a major step toward holding former President Donald Trump—who often spewed "law and order" rhetoric while in office—accountable for his various alleged crimes, Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus R. Vance Jr. has convened a grand jury that is set to decide whether to indict Trump, others at his company, or the business itself.

That's according to the Washington Post, which broke the news Tuesday evening, citing two unnamed sources, and reported that it suggests the Democratic D.A. "believes he has found evidence of a crime—if not by Trump then by someone potentially close to him or by his company." A spokesperson for Vance declined to comment.

After a decades of being America's most powerful gun rights group, an investigation into the National Rifle Association's (NRA) alleged financial misconduct threatens the leadership of the group president, Wayne LaPierre, along with the group's very existence.

In a recent episode of the New York Times' The Daily podcast, host Michael Barbaro looks at the rise of the NRA throughout the years, with its unparalleled fundraising and political influence and how a lawsuit filed by New York Attorney General Letitia James spells doom for the organization.

Ivanka Trump feigned ignorance of her father's longtime chief financial officer during a court deposition, but no one seems to believe her.

The former president's eldest daughter told investigators under oath that she was unaware of the job title of Allen Weisselberg, who had worked for Trump Organization since the 1970s and had long served as the company's chief financial officer, during an investigation of the family's business dealings.

On Saturday, writing for USA TODAY, David Jackson suggested that if former President Donald Trump himself ends up being charged with a crime as a result of the New York investigation into his business practices, it would not necessarily do anything to injure his standing within the Republican Party if he wanted to continue leading the party.

In fact, he wrote, it could even make it more likely he runs for president again in 2024 — out of spite.

On Thursday, Fox News anchor and legal analyst Gregg Jarrett penned a furious column blasting New York Attorney General Letitia James' criminal investigation into the Trump family business as "an affront to justice."

"Whether she will ever issue indictments is an open question and unknown," wrote Jarrett. "What is known is that the New York attorney general is under the mistaken impression that her prosecutorial power is an omnipotent weapon that can be used to selectively punish a political nemesis and to advance her own career in public office. Her malign behavior is an affront to justice because it is so profoundly unethical."

New York Attorney General Letitia James announced this week that she will be joining the Manhattan district attorney in an ongoing criminal fraud investigation into the Trump Organization. But according to POLITICO legal commentator Renato Mariotti, James' "unusual public statement" signals bad news for Trump and his family-run operation "but not for the reason you likely suspect."

According to Mariotti, the announcement shows a serious commitment by James to go "all in on the DA's criminal investigation."

This week, New York State Attorney General Letitia James made a major announcement: her investigation of the Trump Organization is now a criminal investigation rather than a civil investigation. Kimberly Wehle, a Never Trump conservative and former assistant U.S. attorney who teaches law at the University of Baltimore, analyzes this development in an article published by The Atlantic on May 19. And she explains why James' announcement is historic.

James, a Democrat, announced, "We are now actively investigating the Trump Organization in a criminal capacity." And the New York Times has reported that two prosecutors from her office will be working with the office of Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus R. Vance, Jr.

The office of New York Attorney General Letitia James is now criminally investigating longtime Trump Organization Chief Financial Officer Allen Weisselberg's personal taxes, according to a report from The New York Times.

The investigation was sparked partially by documents shared by his former daughter-in-law, Jennifer Weisselberg.

On Wednesday's edition of CNN's "The Lead," former U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara suggested that the Manhattan district attorney intends to bring charges in the criminal investigation of the Trump Organization before, according to rumors, he leaves office next year.

"The New York Attorney General Letitia James, she's essentially joining forces with the Manhattan district attorney, Cy Vance, this is his last year in office," said anchor Jake Tapper. "Does that mean that the end of this investigation might be near?"

As Donald Trump's legal problems continue to mount, some would think that his dire straits would be a refutation to the predictions and conspiracy theories disseminated by the QAnon movement, but true to QAnon form, adherents to the movement are saying it's all part of "the plan."

As VICE News points out, this claim is popping up on pro-Trump message boards where QAnon adherents are claiming the news is meant to distract from Arizona's audit of votes from the 2020 election and derail Trump's chances at winning in 2024.

A Democratic prosecutor nearing the end of his term, a loyal lieutenant of the Trump family and a lawyer determined to sink his former boss: AFP details some of the players in New York's criminal probe into Donald Trump.

• Cyrus Vance -

The 66-year-old Democrat has been Manhattan District Attorney since 2010. He was the first to launch a criminal investigation into the Republican ex-president.