On Tuesday, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg filed a federal lawsuit against House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan, alleging that the Republican lawmaker is trying to intimidate him over his prosecution of former President Donald Trump.
In his lawsuit, Bragg said he was taking legal action “in response to an unprecedently brazen and unconstitutional attack by members of Congress on an ongoing New York State criminal prosecution and investigation of former President Donald J. Trump.” The D.A. is asking a judge to invalidate subpoenas that Jordan has or plans to issue as part of an investigation of Bragg’s handling of the Trump case.
“Chairman Jordan’s subpoena is an unconstitutional attempt to undermine an ongoing New York felony criminal prosecution and investigation,” Bragg said. “As our complaint details, this is an unprecedented, illegitimate interference by Congress that lacks any legal merit and defies basic principles of federalism.”
In recent weeks, the House Judiciary Committee issued a subpoena seeking testimony from a former prosecutor, Mark Pomerantz, who previously oversaw the Trump investigation. The committee has also sought documents and testimony about the case from Bragg and his office. Bragg has rejected those requests.
Jordan’s office responded to the lawsuit by directing Fox News Digital to a Twitter post in which he accused Bragg of indicting Trump for “no crime.”
First, they indict a president for no crime.
Then, they sue to block congressional oversight when we ask questions about the federal funds they say they used to do it.
— Rep. Jim Jordan (@Jim_Jordan) April 11, 2023
Trump was indicted late last month on 34 felony counts of falsifying business records related to hush-money payments made during the 2016 presidential campaign to bury allegations that he had extramarital sexual encounters. The 2024 presidential contender has denied wrongdoing and pleaded not guilty at an arraignment in Manhattan last week.
The House Judiciary Committee is scheduled to hold a hearing in Manhattan on Monday on crime in New York City and what it alleges are Bragg’s “pro-crime, anti-victim” policies. In response, the D.A.’s office pointed to statistics showing that violent crime in Manhattan has dropped since Bragg took office in January 2022.
The case is assigned to U.S. District Mary Kay Vyskocil, a Trump appointee who previously served as a federal bankruptcy court judge. It is not yet known when a ruling will be issued in the case.
