Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg filed a lawsuit against House Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan of Ohio in an effort to block congressional Republicans from meddling in his office's ongoing criminal case against former President Donald Trump.
According to the court filing, Bragg claims that House Republicans launched an "unprecedently brazen and unconstitutional attack" on his probe into Trump and accused them of a "transparent campaign to intimidate and attack" him.
Bragg, in the filing, asked a judge to invalidate subpoenas that Jordan has or plans to issue as part of an investigation of Bragg's handling of the case, the first criminal prosecution of a former U.S. president.
Trump pleaded not guilty last week to 34 felony counts related to alleged hush money payments made during his 2016 presidential campaign.
The lawsuit is the latest escalation in the war of words between Bragg and House Republicans related to the Trump case. Three House Republican committee chairs – Rep. Jordan, who chairs the House Judiciary Committee, Rep. Bryan Steil, R-Wisc., the Chair of the House Administration Committee, and Rep. James Comer, R-Ky., the Chair of the House Oversight Committee – sent a letter to Bragg last month seeking information about the case and slamming the probe as an “unprecedented abuse of prosecutorial authority.”
Bragg's office pushed back on that letter, charging that complying with such a request would “interfere with law enforcement” and would represent an “unlawful incursion into New York’s sovereignty." The Republican chairmen responded days later with a threat to subpoena Bragg.
“We believe that we now must consider whether Congress should take legislative action to protect former and/or current Presidents from politically motivated prosecutions by state and local officials, and if so, how those protections should be structured,” the chairs wrote in an eight-page letter. “Critically, due to your own actions, you are now in possession of information critical to this inquiry.”
“It is not appropriate for Congress to interfere with pending local investigations,” Bragg responded in a statement. “This unprecedented inquiry by federal elected officials into an ongoing matter serves only to hinder, disrupt and undermine the legitimate work of our dedicated prosecutors.”
In a Twitter post, Jordan accused Bragg of suing "to block congressional oversight when we ask questions about the federal funds they say they used to do it."
The lawsuit comes one day after Jordan announced a hearing in New York for next week titled "Victims of Violent Crime in Manhattan" aimed at exploring Bragg's policies.
The hearing “will examine how Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s pro-crime, anti-victim policies have led to an increase in violent crime and a dangerous community for New York City residents,” according to a statement put out by the committee on Monday.
“Don’t be fooled, the House GOP is coming to the safest big city in America for a political stunt,” a spokesperson for Bragg said in a statement on Monday. “The hearing won’t engage in actual efforts to increase public safety, such as supporting national gun legislation and shutting down the iron pipeline,” a term used to describe the flow of guns from states with less-restrictive gun laws into New York, where gun restrictions are among the toughest in the nation.
Bragg's lawsuit also names Mark Pomerantz, a former Manhattan assistant district attorney Thursday who was part of the investigation into former President Trump until last year, as a defendant in an attempt to block any attempt to compel him to testify. Jordan issued a subpoena to Pomerantz last week; The committee previously requested he appear for a deposition voluntarily, in part because he went public with his disagreements with Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s strategy and detailed internal debate over the merits of the alleged crimes in a memoir published in February.
The filing says that "Jordan’s demands, including his subpoena to Mr. Pomerantz, seek highly sensitive and confidential local prosecutorial information that belongs to" his office and the people of New York.
"Basic principles of federalism and common sense, as well as binding Supreme Court precedent, forbid Congress from demanding it," the filing continues.
Spectrum News has reached out to Pomerantz for comment.
This is a developing story. Check back later for further updates.
Spectrum News' Joseph Konig and The Associated Press contributed to this report.