House Republicans are exhausting all their options and making a last-ditch effort to dismantle Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s probe into hush money allegedly paid by former President Donald Trump to a porn star with whom he allegedly had an affair.
House Judiciary Committee Chair Jim Jordan (R-OH) announced Wednesday night that he had sent letters to two former prosecutors—both of whom resigned from the DA’s office last year after a clash over the direction of the investigation—“demanding” documents and testimony relating to Bragg’s probe into alleged hush money payments the former president organized for adult film actress Stormy Daniels. Jordan sent the letters to Carey Dunne, former Manhattan special assistant district attorney, and Mark Pomerantz, former New York County special assistant district attorney, as reports from the courthouse continue to indicate a Trump indictment is likely.
The pair had been leading the criminal investigation into Trump under then-District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr. When Vance left and Bragg took office in February of last year, Bragg asked them to stay—but both resigned in protest because Bragg had “indicated to them that he had doubts about moving forward with a case against Mr. Trump,” The New York Times reported at the time.
ADVERTISEMENT
The investigation was ultimately suspended. Pomerantz then took the extraordinary step of releasing a book last month about the investigation, People vs. Donald Trump: An Inside Account.
In the new letter, Jordan describes the possible indictment of a former president as an “unprecedented abuse of prosecutorial authority.”
“Your criticisms of Bragg’s investigation were widely reported,” Jordan wrote, and “it now appears that your efforts to shame Bragg have worked as he is reportedly resurrecting a so-called ‘zombie’ case.”
The letter requests the pair testify during a “transcribed interview about these matters as soon as possible,” along with submitting other documents and communications. It is unclear whether the former prosecutors will agree to testify—though it would appear unlikely.
Speaking to Sean Hannity on Fox News on Wednesday night, Jordan said he wanted to know “what changed.”
“The only thing that changes... is that President Trump announces he’s running for president,” Jordan said.
