Bragg v. Jordan and Pomerantz, to stop interference with NY criminal case

[bob]

Bragg sues Jordan:

"For completeness," Bragg v. Jordan, filed in S.D.N.Y.

Two causes of action: declaratory relief and violation of grand jury secrecy. Basically seeks to enjoin Jordan from enforcing the subpoena issued to Pomerantz, and to enjoin similar future subpoenas.

[p0rtia]

Oh, frabjous day!

[MN-Skeptic]

A couple of tweets from a tweet thread -

[Foggy]

!	Message from: Foggy
	I decided this deserves its own thread, otherwise it will get messy if we're following the pleadings in this case and the criminal case.

I have no idea or opinion about the merits of the case, but I approve ... on occasion ... of fighting fire with fire.

[Gregg]

I think the Republicans are getting as unhinged as Trump himself is at the prospect of him finally being held accountable.


Or, as my friend would say "The Fascists are freaking the fuck out".

[bob]

I've edited the title to include a notable detail: Bragg also is suing Pomerantz, to prevent Pomerantz from voluntarily discussing privileged material.

Commentators have noted that "privilege" is a concept rooted in evidentiary rules. But Congress isn't bound by any rules of evidence. Anything is evidence, anything is relevant when testifying before Congress. (Which was among the reasons it was amusing that the insurrectionists kept saying "HeaRsAY!!1!" about the J6 proceedings.)

Whether a court would enforce an evidentiary rule against Congress isn't entirely clear. If a congressional witness, for example, invoked attorney-client privilege, Congress held the witness in contempt, and the DOJ prosecuted the case (or Congress sought to enforce civil contempt), it seems reasonable a court would uphold a valid exercise of privilege. But it isn't a foregone conclusion (commentators say).

So also suing Pomerantz is belt-and-suspenders.

[Kendra]

Jordan: They’re obstructing our investigation!

[Phoenix520]

Jordan has a Masters in education and a JD but never took the bar. Doesn’t seem to me that he learned much law. Or perhaps it’s all a performance.

[Ben-Prime]

Jordan has a Masters in education and a JD but never took the bar. Doesn’t seem to me that he learned much law. Or perhaps it’s all a performance.

I would say he knows as much about law as about education and the moral and ethical duties of a coach.

[bob]

Executive summary: "Valid legislative purpose."

Bragg indicated an appeal (and stay request) is forthcoming.

[p0rtia]

The only plus of this questionable ruling is that Pomerantz will eat them alive.

[much ado]

The only plus of this questionable ruling is that Pomerantz will eat them alive.

Oh yeah. Hadn’t thought of that.

[Kendra]

This dopey dope is celebrating Mark Pomerantz being compelled to testify before Jim Jordan’s committee. I CAN’T WAIT for him to testify. This will blow up in their faces. Bigly. Again. Careful what you wish for morons.

[somerset]

Yeah, I'm not sure why Jordan would want the testimony of a guy who wanted to indict tfg even more aggressively than Bragg.

[Phoenix520]

What’s that they say? Don’t ask questions to which you do not know the answers?

Given the right’s preference for fancy bullshit over the truth, this oughta be good.

[northland10]

I anticipate the witness's microphone having issues when he starts explaining reality.

[Kendra]

I assume CSpan will carry this. Any idea what time?

[MN-Skeptic]

[Slim Cognito]

I was kinda lookin' forward to the transcript.

[Tiredretiredlawyer]

I anticipate the witness's microphone having issues when he starts explaining reality.

[Volkonski]

Ex-Manhattan prosecutor set to testify before GOP-led House Judiciary Committee in May

https://www.cnn.com/2023/04/21/politics ... %3A19%3A30

The Manhattan District Attorney’s Office and the Republican-led House Judiciary Committee have settled a court dispute where the prosecutor’s office tried to block congressional testimony from former prosecutor Mark Pomerantz, according to a new court filing Friday night.

House Judiciary Chair Jim Jordan subpoenaed Pomerantz earlier this month as part of his effort to investigate Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s indictment of former President Donald Trump.

Pomerantz investigated Trump and his business empire before he resigned from the DA’s office last year, and Republicans argue that his public comments suggest that the charges brought against Trump are politically motivated. In his resignation letter, Pomerantz said Trump was “guilty of numerous felony violations” related to his annual financial statements.

Pomerantz is set to testify on May 12 before the panel, and a lawyer from the district attorney’s office will be able to sit in on the deposition, the two sides acknowledged in statements.

“Pomerantz’s deposition will go forward on May 12, and we look forward to his appearance,” Russell Dye, a spokesperson for Chairman Jim Jordan, said in a statement.

A spokesperson for Bragg said in a statement, “Our successful stay of this subpoena blocked the immediate deposition and afforded us the time necessary to coordinate with the House Judiciary Committee on an agreement that protects the District Attorney’s privileges and interests. We are pleased with this resolution, which ensures any questioning of our former employee will take place in the presence of our General Counsel on a reasonable, agreed upon timeframe. We are gratified that the Second Circuit’s ruling provided us with the opportunity to successfully resolve this dispute.”

[RTH10260]

Former Manhattan prosecutor Pomerantz tight-lipped at House Judiciary Committee deposition — in line, he says, with grand-jury rules
Mark Pomerantz, who resigned after Alvin Bragg took over from Cyrus Vance Jr. as Manhattan district attorney, derided his subpoena by House Republicans as ‘political theater’

Published: May 13, 2023 at 12:51 p.m. ET
By Associated PressFollow

WASHINGTON (AP) — An ex-prosecutor who once oversaw Manhattan’s investigation of former President Donald Trump declined to substantively answer questions at a closed-door deposition Friday of the House Judiciary Committee, according to a Republican lawmaker in the meeting. The prosecutor and his former boss said he was merely abiding by grand-jury rules.

Rep. Darrell Issa, a California Republican, exited the meeting after roughly one hour and said Mark Pomerantz, the former prosecutor, repeatedly invoked the Fifth Amendment that protects people from providing self-incriminating testimony.
Trump faces 34 felony counts of falsifying business records in a scheme to bury allegations of extramarital affairs that arose during his 2016 White House campaign. GOP lawmakers have decried the investigation as a “political persecution” and launched an oversight probe.

Pomerantz in a written opening statement called the committee’s inquiry itself “an act of political theater.” He also explained he was invoking the Fifth Amendment because the Manhattan district attorney’s office had previously warned him before he published a book on the investigation that he could face criminal liability if he revealed grand jury material or violated a provision of the New York City Charter dealing with misuse of confidential information.

From the archives (April 2023): Jordan’s Judiciary Committee wants to hear from Manhattan prosecutor who quit Bragg team in 2022

Also see: House GOP can question former Manhattan prosecutor about Trump case, judge says

Pomerantz, who left Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s office after disagreements over the direction of the Trump investigation, was subpoenaed by the Republican-controlled House committee. The panel, chaired by the unvaryingly Trump-aligned Rep. Jim Jordan of Ohio, is probing how Bragg handled Trump’s historic indictment.

“This deposition is for show,” Pomerantz also said in prepared remarks. “I do not believe for a moment that I am here to assist a genuine effort to enact legislation or conduct legislative ‘oversight.’ “

Bragg had sued to halt Jordan’s subpoena of Pomerantz, but last month agreed to Pomerantz’s testimony after a delay and a condition that lawyers from the prosecutor’s office be present. The committee has said it would have allowed the district attorney’s lawyers even without the agreement.

Pomerantz had argued in court papers that the subpoena left him in an “impossible position” and would potentially require him to violate his ethical obligations.

Issa, the GOP lawmaker, told reporters, “This is an obstructing witness who has no intention of answering any questions.”




https://www.marketwatch.com/story/forme ... s-638d4db6

[RTH10260]

‘This deposition is for show’: Manhattan DA’s ex-deputy scorches Jim Jordan’s ‘cynical histrionics’ in Trump probe, pleads Fifth

ADAM KLASFELD
May 12th, 2023, 4:32 pm

The former top deputy of the Manhattan district attorney prosecuting former President Donald Trump invoked his Fifth Amendment rights at his deposition before the Republican-controlled House Judiciary Committee.

Scorching the committee’s chairman Rep. Jim Jordan, ex-Assistant District Attorney Mark Pomerantz flatly declared in his opening remarks: “This deposition is for show,” later labeling it “political theater” and “cynical histrionics.”

“I do not believe for a moment that I am here to assist a genuine effort to enact legislation or conduct legislative ‘oversight,'” Pomerantz said in a three-page statement. “We are gathered here because Donald Trump’s supporters would like to use these proceedings to attempt to obstruct and undermine the criminal case pending against him, and to harass, intimidate, and discredit anyone who investigates or charges him.”

Jordan, a Trump loyalist from Ohio, says he’s investigating whether Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s prosecution of the former president is politically motivated. In early 2022, Pomerantz and his then-colleague Carey Dunne resigned from the probe, believing that Bragg was too reluctant to charge Trump with tax crimes. Dunne faded to the sidelines, but Pomerantz went on to write a tell-all memoir of his time inside the DA’s office titled “People v. Trump,” named at the time for the case that wasn’t.

Bragg resisted any attempts by the Judiciary Committee to scrutinize his office, but Jordan latched onto Pomerantz’s book as a waiver of confidentiality.



https://lawandcrime.com/trump/this-depo ... ads-fifth/