Jordan subpoenas former senior prosecutor in Manhattan DA’s office in connection to probe of Trump case
By Annie Grayer and Zachary Cohen, CNN
House Judiciary Chair Jim Jordan subpoenaed former New York County Special Assistant District Attorney Mark Pomerantz for his role investigating Donald Trump and his business empire — as House Republicans attempt to frame the recent indictment against the former President as politically motivated.
The move comes as Jordan has left the door open on whether to take the unprecedented step to subpoena Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, as part of the larger House Republican effort to discredit the case he has brought against Trump.
Pomerantz resigned from the Manhattan DA’s office in 2022 and said in his resignation letter that former President was “guilty of numerous felony violations” in connection to his annual financial statements. He resigned one day after Bragg informed him that he wasn’t prepared to move forward with criminal charges at that point.
The committee wrote in a statement announcing the subpoena that, “Pomerantz’s public statements about the investigation strongly suggest that Bragg’s prosecution of President Trump is politically motivated.”
Bragg responded to news of the subpoena by saying “the House GOP continues to attempt to undermine an active investigation and ongoing New York criminal case with an unprecedented campaign of harassment and intimidation.”
The statement posted to Twitter went on to say, “These elected officials would better serve their constituents and the country, and fulfill their oath of office, by doing their jobs in Congress and not intruding on the sovereignty of the state of New York by interfering in an ongoing criminal matter in state court.”
Pomerantz declined to comment when asked about the subpoena.
Jordan first requested Pomerantz to cooperate voluntarily on March 22, but said Pomerantz advised that the New York County District Attorney’s Office had directed him not to cooperate.
The deposition date has been set for April 20, according to a copy of the subpoena reviewed by CNN.
Jordan telegraphed his decision to subpoena Pomerantz in an appearance on Fox News on Wednesday by saying, “we think we’d like to talk to him and start to get some answers. That may be an easier route to pursue initially than Mr. Bragg.” Bragg’s office has responded to Jordan’s requests and has said they are willing to meet.
The subpoena to Pomerantz is the latest subpoena that Jordan has fired off as chair of the powerful House Judiciary Committee. Jordan evaded a congressional subpoena when the former January 6 committee subpoenaed him in the last Congress as part of its investigation.
In the subpoena letter, Jordan writes that because of Pomerantz’s book and public media appearances, he has “no basis to decline to testify about matters before the Committee.”
“Just this month, you published a book excoriating Bragg for not aggressively prosecuting President Trump, laying bare the office’s internal deliberations about the investigation and your personal animus toward President Trump,” Jordan wrote.
“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 added. “Your book again unfairly disparaged President Trump, and now opens the door to examination about the District Attorney’s office commitment to evenhanded justice.”
Jordan also says that Congress “may consider legislative reforms to the authorities of special counsels and their relationships with other prosecuting entities.”
This story has been updated with additional information.
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CNN’s Kara Scannell contributed.
