Jordan expands probe into Manhattan DA with testimony requests from former prosecutors
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Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) speaks during the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) at the Gaylord National Resort and Convention Center in National Harbor, Md., on Thursday, March 2, 2023.
House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) expanded his investigation into Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s (D) handling of a hush money probe into former President Trump, requesting testimony from two prosecutors who resigned from the New York case over disagreements with Bragg.
Jordan on Wednesday sent letters to Mark Pomerantz, former New York County Special Assistant District Attorney, and Carey Dunne, former Manhattan Special Assistant District Attorney, both of whom resigned from Bragg’s Trump investigation in February 2022 because they disagreed with the district attorney’s reluctance to try and indict Trump on the second grand jury that had been empaneled in the case.
The Judiciary chair is requesting that they testify during a transcribed interview “as soon as possible,” and hand over documents and communications.
“Last year, you resigned from the office over Bragg’s initial reluctance to move forward with charges, shaming Bragg in your resignation letter — which was subsequently leaked — into bringing charges,” Jordan wrote to Pomerantz. “Based on your unique role in this matter, and your subsequent public statements prejudicing the impartiality of any prosecution, we request your cooperation with our oversight of this politically motivated prosecutorial decision.”
In a letter to Dunne, Jordan noted that he resigned because of “Bragg’s initial reluctance to move forward with charges in 2022,” and that Bragg “is now attempting to ‘shoehorn’ the same case with identical facts into a new prosecution.”
The letters to Pomerantz and Dunne follow Jordan leading a request along with House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer (R-Ky.) and House ministration Committee Chairman Bryan Steil (R-Wis.) for testimony and documents from Bragg himself after Trump said over the weekend that he would be arrested on Tuesday in connection with the probe over a $130,000 payment to adult film star Stormy Daniels. But Bragg’s office has not announced any indictment, and Bragg canceled a Wednesday meeting of a New York grand jury weighing an indictment.
Republicans across the board have backed up Trump’s outrage about a “witch hunt,” accusing Bragg of being political.
Democrats have lashed out at the House GOP probe, with House Oversight ranking member Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) saying in a statement late Monday it is “an astonishing and unprecedented abuse of power” and could “obstruct a possible criminal indictment.”
Bragg became Manhattan District Attorney in January 2022. At the end of February, Pomerantz and Dunne resigned from the office because, as reported by The New York Times, Bragg had expressed doubts about continuing the Trump case.
The Times published Pomerantz’s resignation letter in March, in which he said he believed Trump was “guilty of numerous felony violations” in connection to his annual Statements of Financial Condition. Pomerantz noted that Bragg decided not to seek criminal charges in the case, writing “I believe that your decision not to prosecute Donald Trump now, and on the existing record, is misguided and completely contrary to the public interest. I therefore cannot continue in my current position.”
“I fear that your decision means that Mr. Trump will not be held fully accountable for his crimes. I have worked too hard as a lawyer, and for too long, now to become a passive participant in what I believe to be a grave failure of justice,” he added. “I therefore resign from my position as a Special Assistant District Attorney, effective immediately.”
Jordan cited the resignation letter in his communication to Pomerantz on Wednesday night, while also noting his memoir that accused Bragg of mismanaging the probe, and his post-DA work at a law firm with Dunne. The firm is focused on protecting democracy and individual rights.
“It now appears that your efforts to shame Bragg have worked as he is reportedly resurrecting a so-called ‘zombie’ case against President Trump using a tenuous and untested legal theory,” he wrote to both Pomerantz and Dunne.
“Your actions, both as a special prosecutor and since leaving the District Attorney’s office, cast serious doubt on the administration of fair and impartial justice in this matter,” he later added in both letters.
