Global Courant 2023-04-12 01:01:31
Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg on Tuesday charged Republican Jim Jordan with what he called an “unprecedentedly brutal and unconstitutional attack by members of Congress.”
The 50-page lawsuit alleges Jordan launched a “transparent campaign to intimidate and assault Bragg” amid the landmark indictment of former President Donald Trump.
Trump, who has repeatedly denied the allegations against him, was indicted last week and pleaded not guilty to 34 counts of falsifying first-degree business records in an alleged hush money “plan” to influence the 2016 election.
Jordan, one of Trump’s biggest supporters on Capitol Hill, has led the charge against Bragg along with other GOP chairmen on influential House committees. The presiding officers last month demanded documents related to Bragg’s investigation of Trump and testimony from the district attorney himself.
Last week, Jordan subpoenaed Mark Pomerantz to make a statement regarding his role in investigating Trump and Trump’s companies. Pomerantz is a former prosecutor in the Manhattan district attorney’s office who resigned last year due to Bragg’s reluctance at the time to pursue the case against Trump.
Bragg’s lawsuit seeks to stop enforcement of the subpoena, arguing that “basic principles of federalism and common sense, as well as binding Supreme Court precedent, prohibit Congress from requiring it.”
“Congress does not have the authority to oversee state criminal prosecutions. Nor does Congress have the authority to issue subpoenas for the personal aggrandizement of the investigators or to punish those under investigation,” the lawsuit said. “Yet that is exactly what Chairman Jordan is trying to do.”
The lawsuit accused Jordan and House Republicans of “participating in a campaign of intimidation, retaliation and obstruction” and noted how Trump “has threatened New York officials with violent and racist vitriol.”
The tense back and forth between Bragg and Jordan had continued Monday as House Republicans announced plans to hold a New York City crime hearing in Bragg’s backyard.
Rep. Jim Jordan, left, and Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg can be seen in this split photo
Left: AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster; Right: Kena Betancur/Getty Images
The House Judiciary Committee, chaired by Jordan, will hold a field hearing in New York City on April 17 to discuss “victims of violent crime in Manhattan.” There, lawmakers will investigate what the commission called Bragg’s “pro-crime policies,” which have led to a “dangerous community” for residents, according to a report. press release released on Monday night.
Quick a spokesperson for Bragg’s office shot back“Don’t be fooled, the House GOP is coming to America’s safest major city for a political stunt. This hearing is not about actual efforts to increase public safety, such as supporting state gun legislation and shutting down the iron pipeline.”
The spokesman also said New York City had a murder rate “nearly three times lower” than that of Columbus, Ohio – Jordan’s home.
That data appeared to come from Wirepoints, an Illinois-based nonprofit organization, which found it New York City had 5.2 homicides per 100,000 people compared to Columbus’ 15.4 homicides per 100,000 residents based on publicly available homicide data for 2022.
Violent crimes fell during the first three months of this year, with shootings down 23% and homicides down 12.7% in the first quarter compared to the same period last year, the New York Police Department recently reported. announced.
“If Chairman Jordan really cared about public safety, he could take a short drive to Columbus, Dayton, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Akron or Toledo in his home state, instead of using tax dollars to travel hundreds of miles.” Bragg’s spokesman said.
Jordan came along not long after Bragg’s lawsuit was filed tweeted“First, they’re indicting a president for no crime. Then they pursue a lawsuit to block congressional oversight when we question the federal funds they say they used to.”