Manhattan DA sues Republican congressman over Trump impeachment probe

NEW YORK – Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg sued Rep. Jim Jordan on Tuesday in an extraordinary move aimed at shutting down a House Judiciary Committee investigation that the prosecutor says is a “transparent campaign for the ‘bully and attack him’ for his accusation against former President Donald Trump.

Bragg, a Democrat, is asking a judge to quash subpoenas that Jordan, a Republican who chairs the Judiciary Committee, has or plans to issue as part of an investigation into Bragg’s handling of the case, the first criminal prosecution of a former US president. .

Bragg’s trial, a dramatic escalation after weeks of clashing with Jordan and other Republican lawmakers in letters and statements to the media, is aimed at ending what he calls a “constitutionally destructive fishing expedition.” “which threatens the sovereignty and sanctity of state-level prosecutions. .

“Congress has no valid legislative purpose for engaging in a campaign of wanton harassment in retaliation for the District Attorney’s investigation and prosecution of Mr. Trump under New York law,” the report said. lawsuit, citing lack of authority in the Constitution. for Congress to “supervise, let alone disrupt, pending criminal cases of state law”.

In response, Jordan tweeted on Tuesday, “First, they impeach a president without a crime. Then they file a lawsuit to block congressional oversight when we ask about the federal funds they say they used to do so.”

The Judiciary Committee recently issued a subpoena seeking testimony from a former prosecutor, Mark Pomerantz, who previously oversaw the Trump investigation and argued with Bragg over the direction of the investigation before leaving office. ‘last year. The committee also requested documents and testimony from Bragg and his office. Bragg denied these claims.

The House Judiciary Committee is scheduled to hold a hearing in Manhattan on Monday on crime in New York and what it alleges are Bragg’s “pro-crime, anti-victim” policies. However, the district attorney’s office points to statistics showing that violent crime in Manhattan has declined since Bragg took office in January 2022.

In response, Bragg said that if Jordan, who is originally from Ohio, “really cared about public safety,” he would go to some of the big cities in his home state, where crime would be higher than that. ‘At New York.

Bragg is represented in the lawsuit by Theodore Boutrous, a well-known First Amendment lawyer who also represented Trump’s niece, Mary Trump, in legal battles with her famous uncle. The case was assigned to U.S. District Judge Mary Kay Vyskocil, a Trump appointee who previously served as a federal bankruptcy court judge.

Bragg, in his lawsuit, said he was suing “in response to an unprecedented and brazen unconstitutional attack by members of Congress in an ongoing criminal proceeding and investigation in New York State against the ‘Former President Donald J. Trump’.

Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg discussed the 34 felony charges against Donald Trump at a press conference shortly after his impeachment on Tuesday.

Trump was charged on March 30 with 34 misdemeanors of falsifying business documents related to silent money payments made during the 2016 campaign to bury allegations that he had extramarital sex. He denied any wrongdoing and pleaded not guilty during an arraignment last week in Manhattan.

Republicans criticized Bragg even before Trump’s impeachment.

Jordan sent a series of letters and subpoenas to those involved in the case. Pomerantz voluntarily refused to cooperate with the committee’s request last month for the leadership of Bragg’s office, citing the ongoing investigation.

Jordan sees Pomerantz and Carey Dunne, who were key aides in running the day-to-day investigation, as catalysts for Bragg’s decision to pursue the secret money case.

Bragg’s lawsuit places what is already a tenuous struggle over the scope and limits of congressional oversight powers in new territory. House Republicans have argued that because the Manhattan case involves campaign finance and what prosecutors say was a conspiracy to undermine the integrity of the 2016 election, Congress has direct oversight.

Many expected Jordan to subpoena Bragg now, but it seems the heated back-and-forth between the two chosen ones has reached a fever pitch. The Jordanian committee has been a vocal critic of Bragg in recent weeks, but a court battle over a committee subpoena could hamper its momentum and amplify criticism among Democrats that the panel is playing politics rather than dealing with substantive issues. .

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Amiri reported from Washington. Associated Press writer Larry Neumeister in New York contributed to this report.