Manhattan district attorney sues Republican Jim Jordan over Trump prosecution

Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg filed a federal lawsuit against Rep. Jim Jordan on Tuesday, accusing the Republican of a “transparent campaign to intimidate and attack” him over the impeachment of former US president Donald Trump.

Bragg, a Democrat, asked the judge to revoke the subpoenas that Jordan, the chairman of the House judiciary committee, has or plans to issue as part of the investigation Bragg’s handling of the Trump case.

In recent weeks, the committee issued a subpoena seeking testimony from former prosecutor Mark Pomerantz, who previously oversaw the Trump investigation. The committee also requested documents and testimony about the case from Bragg and his office. Bragg has refused the request.

A judiciary committee is scheduled to hold a hearing in Manhattan on Monday on crime in New York City and what it charges are Bragg’s “pro-crime, anti-victim” policies. The District Attorney’s Office, however, points to statistics showing that violent crime in Manhattan has declined since Bragg took office in January 2022.

Bragg, in the lawsuit, said he was taking the legal action “in response to the outrageous and unconstitutional attacks by members of Congress on the New York State criminal prosecution and investigation” of Trump.

A request for comment from Jordan was not immediately returned.

Trump was indicted on March 30 on 34 felony counts of falsifying business records related to cash payments made during the 2016 presidential campaign to bury allegations that he had an extramarital affair.

He has denied wrongdoing and pleaded not guilty at an arraignment last week in Manhattan. Republicans had been fighting Bragg even before Trump’s indictment.

Jordan has issued a series of letters and subpoenas to individuals involved in the case. Pomerantz refused to voluntarily cooperate with the committee’s request last month at the direction of Bragg’s office, citing the ongoing investigation.

Jordan sees 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.