Alvin Bragg Responds to Jim Jordan Subpoenaing Former Staffer

The Manhattan District Attorney's Office released a statement on Thursday accusing House Republicans of launching a "campaign of harassment and intimidation" against its office over the investigation of former President Donald Trump.

The statement, obtained by Politico, arrives on the same day that the GOP-led House Judiciary Committee subpoenaed former Manhattan prosecutor Mark Pomerantz to testify on April 20. Chairman Jim Jordan, Ohio Republican representative, previously vowed to launch an oversight investigation of Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg for his investigation of Trump that ultimately led to the former president being indicted on 34 felony counts related to falsification of business records.

"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," a spokesperson for the Manhattan District Attorney's Office said. "Repeated efforts to weaken state and local law enforcement actions are an abuse of power and will not deter us from our duty to uphold the law."

Trump is accused of falsifying records in the payment of hush money to adult-film star Stormy Daniels and former Playboy model Karen McDougal during his 2016 presidential campaign against Democrat Hillary Clinton.

Pomerantz worked at the district attorney's office under Bragg's predecessor, Cyrus Vance Jr., and previously led the office's investigation into Trump's finances alongside former prosecutor Carey Dunne.

Pomerantz and Dunne resigned in February 2022, after Bragg took office. In his resignation letter posted by The New York Times in March 2022, Pomerantz wrote that Trump was "guilty of numerous felony violations," including "a long history of fabricating information relating to his personal finance."

Jordan, who represents Ohio's 4th District, wrote in a cover letter that accompanied Pomerantz's subpoena on Thursday that due to the former prosecutor's "unique role as a special assistant district attorney leading the investigation into President Trump's finances, you are uniquely situated to provide information that is relevant and necessary to inform the Committee's oversight and potential legislative reforms."

Jordan's letter also alleges that, following a previous request from the Judiciary Committee for Pomerantz to "voluntarily cooperate" in the panel's investigation, Bragg's office sent a letter to Pomerantz, urging him not to cooperate. Politico senior legal affairs reporter Kyle Cheney said that neither Pomerantz nor Bragg provided a copy of the letter to which Jordan is referring.

"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," the spokesperson for Bragg's office continued in the statement.

Pomerantz told Politico over email on Thursday that he had "no comment" to Jordan's subpoena. Newsweek has reached out to Dunne and Pomerantz's law firm, Free and Fair Litigation Group, via email for comment.

Prior to Trump's indictment, Jordan sent a letter to Bragg last month "demanding communications, documents and testimony relating to Bragg's unprecedented abuse of prosecutorial authority and the potential indictment of former President Donald Trump."

Trump has repeatedly called Bragg's investigation a "witch hunt" by Democrats and pleaded not guilty to all 34 felony counts on Tuesday during his arraignment.

The former president also called on Republican lawmakers a day after his court proceedings to "defund" both the FBI and the Department of Justice, saying in a Truth Social post: "THE DEMOCRATS HAVE TOTALLY WEAPONIZED LAW ENFORCEMENT IN OUR COUNTRY AND ARE VICIOUSLY USING THIS ABUSE OF POWER TO INTERFERE WITH OUR ALREADY UNDER SIEGE ELECTIONS!"