The Cutting Edge: Current Issues in White Collar Crime and Corporate Governance
Hosted by Professor John C. Coffee Jr. with Judge Jed S. Rakoff and produced by Columbia Law School and The CLS Blue Sky Blog, this new podcast explores current issues in white collar crime and corporate governance with a focus on those that involve significant ethical and professional issues. Episode 1 features former special prosecutor Mark F. Pomerantz.

Episode 1: “Why Wasn’t Donald Trump Criminally Prosecuted in New York? What Happened and Why?”
Listen above or download a transcript (pdf).
In 2021, Mark F. Pomerantz was appointed as a special assistant district attorney by New York County District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr. to assist with that office’s criminal investigation into the personal and business finances of former President Donald Trump. Pomerantz developed evidence that led Vance to authorize a grand jury presentation that was intended to lead to an indictment. But in 2022, new District Attorney Alvin Bragg decided not to pursue an indictment—and Pomerantz resigned.
Pomerantz joins host John C. Coffee Jr., Adolf A. Berle Professor of Law, and Jed Rakoff, federal district judge for the Southern District of New York and adjunct professor at Columbia Law School, for an in-depth discussion about the high-stakes probe and the level of confidence prosecutors feel they should have before deciding to indict.
“The rule of law is supposed to extend to the rich and poor alike. . . . It’s a government of laws and not men, and that means the rule of law is for everybody. And I was utterly convinced that if the defendant had not been Donald Trump or the putative defendant, if it had been Joe Blow from Kokomo, we would have indicted without a big debate.” —Mark F. Pomerantz