Democrat welcomes Jim Jordan’s subpoena from Alvin Bragg Staffer

The GOP-led House Judiciary Committee, headed by Representative Jim Jordan, has issued a subpoena for former Manhattan District Attorney Mark Pomerantz to testify.

Pomerantz resigned in February 2022 because Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg was then reluctant to pursue legal action against former President Donald Trump because the former special assistant to the district attorney wanted to advance a grand jury investigation into believing Trump was ” guilty”. numerous crimes” in connection with “false” annual accounts.

Bragg, of course, pushed the investigation forward, and Trump was charged last week with 34 counts of falsifying business records. Trump, who became the first sitting or former president ever to face criminal charges, has denied any wrongdoing.

The Justice Department would not bring this case.

Former District Attorney Cy Vance declined to bring the case.

And even Alvin Bragg himself, when first elected, didn’t want to bring the case.

But do you know who wanted to bring it? Markus Pomerantz.

— Rep. Jim Jordan (@Jim_Jordan) April 6, 2023

Jordan’s most recent subpoena directs Pomerantz to appear before the committee for testimony on April 20.

“Congress has a particular and obviously important interest in preventing politically motivated prosecutions by elected state and local prosecutors against current and former presidents, particularly in jurisdictions – like New York County – where the prosecutor is popularly elected and trial-level judges are not serve life terms,” Jordan wrote in a letter accompanying the subpoena.

Democratic Congressman Daniel Goldman of New York, a former lead attorney in one of Trump’s impeachment trials, responded by calling the House Judiciary Committee’s request a “gross abuse of power.”

However, he said he welcomed Pomerantz’s testimony in a public forum.

“This testimony should be conducted in a public hearing — not behind closed-door testimony — so that all Americans can witness it for themselves,” Goldman tweeted.

While this “investigation” remains a gross abuse of power, I applaud Mark Pomerantz’ testimony.

This testimony should be conducted in a public hearing – not behind closed doors – so that all Americans can witness it for themselves. https://t.co/XMXRVmjz5K

— Daniel Goldman (@danielsgoldman) April 6, 2023

Pomerantz previously served under Bragg’s predecessor, Cyrus Vance Jr., and left the Manhattan Attorney’s Office along with another lead investigator, Carey Dunne.

Almost a year after Pomerantz resigned, he published a book entitled People Against Donald Trump. It is described as a detailed look at his attempt to prosecute Trump and why he left the office when Bragg refused to act.

Jordan referenced Pomerantz’s writing in his book as expressing a “depth of personal hostility” toward the former president.

You describe your eagerness to investigate President Trump, writing that you are “delighted” to join an unpaid group of lawyers advising on the Trump investigation and joking that salary negotiations went “greatly,” because you paid to take part in the investigation. ‘ Jordan wrote of Pomerantz’s book.

Lanny Davis, attorney for former Trump attorney and “fixer” Michael Cohen, said news week by phone Thursday that Jordan’s subpoena demonstrated the “hypocrisy” of Republican committee members and was “political rhetoric.”

“If you come up with a consistent standard of definition of ‘use of arms’ and apply it to what was done to Michael Cohen, we will take you seriously,” Davis said. “In relation to a subpoena from a former prosecutor regarding his investigation, this is so improper and will not happen, legally or otherwise.”

Brandon Rottinghaus, a political science professor at the University of Houston, said news week via email that the GOP is looking for a way to get more information about the Manhattan DA’s investigation into Trump without Bragg’s cooperation.

“Bring in [Pomerantz] Testifying is politically risky because it could be perceived as disrupting an investigation, but it’s strong play for the conservative base who view Trump’s indictment as political,” Rottinghaus said. “The committee is using this subpoena as a possible precursor to a formal subpoena to the current district attorney. They’re trying to narrow down the investigation little by little.”

That’s what New York attorney Andrew Lieb said news week via email that Jordan “loves serving subpoenas, although he has been referred to the House Ethics Committee for failing to comply with a subpoena.”

He was referring to the defiance of Jordan and three other Republican congressmen for defying the Jan. 6 committee subpoenas for testimony and documents.

“Does that mean the subpoenas [Jordan] Questions are also optional?” Lieb said. “I think we’re going to find out now that he subpoenaed a former chief prosecutor from the Manhattan Attorney’s Office to prosecute Trump.”