From Bragg v. Jordan, decided today by Judge Mary Kay Vyskocil (S.D.N.Y.) (and an appeal has already been filed); I'm on the run and don't have the time to focus on it further, but I thought I'd pass along some key paragraphs from the opening and closing parts.
The request by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin L. Bragg Jr. for a temporary restraining order, enjoining enforcement of the subpoena issued to Mark F. Pomerantz by the Committee on the Judiciary of the United States House of Representatives, chaired by Congressman Jim Jordan, is DENIED. 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….
On April 6, 2023, the Committee on the Judiciary of the United States House of Representatives (the "Committee") issued a subpoena, directing Mark F. Pomerantz ("Pomerantz"), a former pro bono employee of the Office of the District Attorney for New York County ("DANY"), to appear on April 20, 2023 "to testify at a deposition touching matters of inquiry committed to [the Committee]." The subpoena does not request that Pomerantz produce any documents.
The subpoena was accompanied by a letter from the Chairman of the Committee, Jim Jordan ("Jordan"). The letter requests Pomerantz's appearance due to his "unique role as a special assistant district attorney leading the investigation into President Trump's finances." It further explains that Pomerantz has "already discussed many of the topics relevant to [the Committee's] oversight in a book [that Pomerantz] wrote and published in February 2023, as well as in several public interviews to promote [his] book." Jordan notes that DANY has "acknowledged that it used federal forfeiture funds in its investigations of President Trump," and that the Committee was considering "potential legislative reforms," such as "broadening the existing statutory right of removal of certain criminal cases from state court to federal court."
The book referenced in Jordan's letter is People vs. Donald Trump: An Inside Account, written by Pomerantz and published in early 2023. As its subtitle indicates, the book recounts Pomerantz's insider insights, mental impressions, and his front row seat to the investigation and deliberative process leading up to the DANY case against former President and current presidential candidate Donald Trump. Among Pomerantz's observations:
