Federal Judge Denies Alvin Bragg’s Attempt To Block Jim Jordan’s Subpoena Of Key Witness: ‘No one is above the law’
A federal judge on Wednesday dealt a huge blow to Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg and denied a request for a temporary restraining order to stop a House Judiciary Committee subpoena of former prosecutor Mark Pomerantz.
District Judge Mary Kay Vyskocil said Pomerantz, the man who led Bragg’s investigation into former President Donald Trump before resigning after falling out with Bragg, must appear for a deposition.
She said: “The subpoena was issued with a ‘valid legislative purpose’ in connection with the ‘broad’ and ‘indispensable’ congressional power to ‘conduct investigations.’ It is not the role of the federal judiciary to dictate what legislation Congress may consider or how it should conduct its deliberations in that connection.
“Mr. Pomerantz must appear for the congressional deposition.
“No one is above the law.
“There’s politics going on on both sides, let’s be honest about that.
“I’m talking about the subpoena.
“That’s what’s in front of me, not all the political rhetoric that’s been flying back and forth that’s all color, it’s all theater but it’s not what’s in front of me.
“The cases tell me, if I find a valid legislative purpose, I am not allowed to look at the motivations on either side.
“It’s not my place under all the case law to tell them what and how they ought to conduct their inquiry,” she said.
“Mr. Pomerantz is free to assert privilege if he shows up tomorrow with respect to particular questions, then the committee can ask questions to elicit the basis of privilege and they can adjudicate them on a question-by-question basis,” a lawyer for Jordan’s committee attorney said.
A federal judge has denied a request by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s office for a temporary restraining order to stop a House Judiciary Committee subpoena of former prosecutor Mark Pomerantz https://t.co/a7Dsn1bWsq
— CNN (@CNN) April 19, 2023
Judge shoots down Bragg’s bid to stop Rep. Jim Jordan’s subpoena: ‘No one is above the law’ https://t.co/4EBOMD5ft5 pic.twitter.com/djCiaMJuFh
— New York Post (@nypost) April 19, 2023