Republicans Subpoena Former Prosecutor Over Trump Indictment

Billy House
·2 min read
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(Bloomberg) -- House Republicans subpoenaed a former New York prosecutor who quit Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s team last year after vigorously advocating for the prosecution of former President Donald Trump.

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Judiciary Chair Jim Jordan wrote in a letter accompanying the subpoena Thursday that Mark Pomerantz has contributed to “political pressure” to indict the former president after resigning in frustration over Bragg’s alleged initial reluctance to move forward with charges.

Pomerantz’s “personal animosity” toward Trump appears “to have colored your work as a special assistant district attorney, to the point that you even resigned because the investigation into President Trump was not proceeding fast enough for your liking,” Jordan, of Ohio, wrote.

Pomerantz declined to comment on the subpoena, which calls for him to testify under oath in a closed-door deposition on April 20. Pomerantz previously declined a request for an interview, and Jordan said Pomerantz had previously forwarded a letter from Bragg’s office instructing him not to testify.

Bragg’s office, in a statement, accused House Republicans of abusing their power by engaging in a continued “attempt to undermine an active investigation and ongoing New York criminal case with an unprecedented campaign of harassment and intimidation.”

Jordan and many other Republicans have accused Bragg of undertaking a politically motivated prosecution of Trump on 34 counts accusing him of falsifying business records to cover up the payment of hush money before the 2016 presidential election to an adult-film star with whom he’d had a sexual encounter. Trump pleaded not guilty when he was arraigned on the charges Tuesday.

Jordan has said he has not ruled out subpoenaing Bragg. Bragg’s office did not immediately respond for comment.

Jordan contends that since resigning as a New York County special assistant district attorney Pomerantz has made extensive public statements about the Trump investigation that Jordan says “strongly suggest” Bragg’s prosecution of Trump is politically motivated.

Jordan cites passages in a book by Pomerantz published in February that compared Trump to late New York mob boss John Gotti and said that the District Attorney’s Office was “warranted in throwing the book” at the former president because he “had become a master of breaking the law in ways that were difficult to reach.”

The book contributed to the political pressure on Bragg, according to Jordan.

Jordan said the subpoena was issued under congressional authority to pursue information that could lead to legislative reforms to prevent prosecutorial abuses or conflicts of interest.

“These potential legislative reforms may include, among other things, broadening the existing statutory right of removal of certain criminal cases from state court to federal court,” Jordan states in his letter.

--With assistance from Greg Farrell.

(Updates with Bragg office comment in fifth paragraph)

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