WASHINGTON — Manhattan District Attorney Cy Vance, whose office is investigating former President Donald Trump and the Trump Organization, announced Friday that he won’t run for re-election and will leave office at the end of the year.
The 66-year-old New York prosecutor's decision not to run for a fourth term, which would begin in January, was widely expected. He has served as Manhattan district attorney since 2010.
“I never imagined myself as district attorney for decades like my predecessors. I never thought of this as my last job, even though it’s the best job and biggest honor I’ll ever have,” he said in a statement.
“I said twelve years ago that change is fundamentally good and necessary for any institution," he added. "Having secured these lasting impacts in our communities, our public policy, and our crimefighting capacity, the time has come to open the pathway for new leadership at the Manhattan D.A.’s Office.”
Vance touted the effort under his leadership to make New York City safer, overhaul the justice system and modernize the office. He recently obtained Trump’s tax returns and underlying documents from the former president’s accounting firm Mazars USA after the Supreme Court declined to stop their production. Vance was seeking tax returns covering eight years for a grand jury investigation of hush money payments and other financial transactions.
Vance is also investigating former Trump senior adviser Steve Bannon in connection with his role in a charity that was supposed to use private funds to build the southern border wall. Vance also tried to prosecute Trump's former campaign manager Paul Manafort, but the state's highest court ruled that he could no longer pursue charges against him after Trump pardoned him last year.
Vance’s office prosecuted movie producer Harvey Weinstein, who was convicted of rape and sexual assault. Weinstein was sentenced last year to 23 years in prison last year.
