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House Judiciary Committee Chair Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, subpoenaed Mark Pomerantz on Thursday. He is a former New York prosecutor who resigned to protest Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg’s initial refusal to bring charges against former President Trump.
Why it matters: This subpoena marks a significant escalation in House GOP’s investigation of Trump’s prosecution by Bragg over an alleged hush-money payment to Stormy Daniels.
Driving the news: Jordan wrote a letter to Pomerantz, a former New York County Special Assistant District Attorney, that he was “uniquely placed to provide information that’s relevant and necessary to inform and assist the Committee in its oversight and potential legislative reforms.”
According to Jordan, Pomerantz stated that he had been told not to cooperate by the Manhattan DA’s office in response to the committee’s March 23 request for documents and testimony. “In light of you disregarding our earlier voluntary request,” Jordan wrote. He attached a subpoena requesting that Pomerantz appear for a deposition. The background: Carey Dunne and Pomerantz were the Trump case leaders under former DA Cyrus Vance Jr. They resigned in February last year, shortly after Bragg was elected.
Their departures were reportedly due to Bragg’s suspension of the investigation into Trump.
He also explained the legislative purpose behind the investigation: to prevent “politically motivated prosecutions” of Presidents of the United States (current and former) for personal actions. The other side: Rep. Hank Johnson (D.Ga.), a senior member on the Judiciary Committee, stated to Axios that the subpoena is “unprecedented interference” by federal legislators in a state judicial matter.
“It is wrong and it is an abuse. “I expect it to be nothing, other than embarrassment to the chair of the House Judiciary Committee, and his supporters,” he said in an Interview.
According to Axios, the subpoena to Pomerantz orders him to appear in the Rayburn House Office Building for a deposition on April 20.
