WASHINGTON (AP) — House Republicans on Thursday recalled one of the former Manhattan prosecutors who had led the criminal investigation into Donald Trump before quitting last year because of a conflict over the direction of the probe.
Rep. Jim Jordan, chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, ordered Mark Pomerantz to testify before the committee on April 30. The subpoena, seen by The Associated Press, is the latest escalation by Republicans in their investigation of Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, days after. Trump was indicted on a 34-count felony indictment in connection with a money scheme involving porn actors.
Pomerantz refused to voluntarily cooperate with the committee’s request last month at the direction of Bragg’s office, citing the ongoing investigation. The Manhattan DA’s office has accused Jordan’s committee of exceeding its legal authority and violating New York state sovereignty.
Jordan has now written in a letter to Pomerantz, “Based on your unique role as a special assistant district attorney leading the investigation into President Trump’s finances, you are uniquely positioned to provide relevant and necessary information to inform the oversight committee and potential legislative reforms.”
A request for comment from Pomerantz was not immediately returned.
Bragg called the subpoena another example of Republicans “trying to undermine active investigations and ongoing New York criminal cases.”
“Repeated attempts to undermine the actions of state and local law enforcement are an abuse of power and will not impede our duty to uphold the law,” Bragg wrote in a tweet.
Republicans rallied around Trump during Tuesday’s impeachment, labeling Bragg’s investigation “political persecution.” Jordan and other senior GOP lawmakers see Pomerantz and Carey Dunne, who are the top deputies tasked with conducting day-to-day investigations, as the catalyst for Bragg’s decision to pursue the quiet money case.
The two began an investigation into former District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr., and Bragg asked him to stay on when he took office in January. Vance and Bragg are Democrats.
Trump’s indictment centers on allegations that he falsified internal business records at his private company in an attempt to cover up efforts to illegally influence the 2016 election by arranging payments that silenced claims that could harm his candidacy. It includes 34 counts of false records related to checks Trump sent to personal lawyers and problem-solvers to reimburse him for his role in paying off an obscene actor who said he had extramarital sexual encounters with Trump years earlier.
Pomerantz released a book earlier this year titled “The People vs. Donald Trump: An Inside Account.” In the book, he said Vance authorized him in December 2021 to seek Trump’s impeachment. He described the quiet money payments — made or arranged by Cohen — as perhaps the most challenging and legal potential case against the former president.
Jordan wrote Thursday that Pomerantz should be allowed to cooperate because he “has discussed many topics relevant to our oversight” in a book he published and promoted. He went on to say that while Pomerantz’s own book details the case “Trump appears to be politically motivated.”
“Specifically, you described your passion for investigating President Trump, wrote that you were ‘happy’ to join a group of unpaid lawyers advising on the Trump investigation, and joked that salary negotiations had become ‘good’ because you would be paid to join the investigation,” Jordan’s letter continues.
Associated Press writer Michael R. Sisak in New York contributed to this report.
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