Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg is suing House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), alleging Jordan and the GOP-led panel “are participating in a campaign of intimidation, retaliation, and obstruction” in their oversight attempts regarding the hush money investigation into former President Trump, which led to Trump’s indictment.
Jordan subpoenaed former prosecutor Mark Pomerantz, who resigned from the investigation into Trump last year. While Bragg hasn’t received a subpoena, Jordan has requested his testimony along with documents related to the Trump case.
Bragg has refused, saying it would violate the rights of those involved — including Trump’s.
The DA is seeking to block the Pomerantz subpoena, along with any subpoenas that could be issued to others in the DA office, including Bragg himself.
The lawsuit from Bragg’s office states, “Congress has no power to supervise state criminal prosecutions. Nor does Congress have the power to serve subpoenas ‘for the personal aggrandizement of the investigators or to punish those investigated.'”
Jordan responded to the suit on Twitter, saying, “First, they indict a president for no crime. Then, they sue to block congressional oversight when we ask questions about the federal funds they say they used to do it.”
Jordan, along with House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer (R-Ky.) and Administration Committee Chairman Bryan Steil (R-Wis.), said in a letter to Bragg last month that his “actions will erode confidence in the evenhanded application of justice and unalterably interfere in the course of the 2024 presidential election.”
The back-and-forth between Bragg and Jordan also involves debate over whether the committee’s oversight efforts serve a “legitimate legislative purpose.” Read more here