Republicans on the House Judiciary Committee late Wednesday demanded two former Manhattan prosecutors who were overseeing the criminal probe into former President Trump testify before the panel.
Rep. Jim Jordan, Ohio Republican and the panel’s chairman, sent letters to Mark Pomerantz and Carey Dunne, who last year quit District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s investigation into Mr. Trump because he was reluctant to bring charges.
“It now appears that your efforts to shame Bragg have worked as he is reportedly resurrecting a so-called ‘zombie’ case against President Trump using a tenuous and untested legal theory,” Mr. Jordan wrote.
The letters demanded the two testify before the panel and turn over documents, including any communications between Mr. Bragg’s office and the Justice Department. Mr. Jordan said the former prosecutors had until March 27 to provide the materials.
House Republicans have upped their scrutiny of Mr. Trump as a grand jury in New York is deciding whether or not to indict the former president.
The grand jury is repeatedly weighing indicting Mr. Trump on charges of falsifying business records to conceal hush payments to a porn star who alleged an affair with Mr. Trump in 2006. Mr. Trump has denied the affair.
Mr. Pomerantz and Mr. Dunne oversaw the hush-money probe and pushed for criminal charges against Mr. Trump. Last month, Mr. Pomerantz released a book arguing that criminal charges were warranted and former District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr. had authorized him to pursue Mr. Trump’s indictment.
Although Mr. Vance abandoned the hush-money probe in 2019, shifting the investigation into other financial concerns, Mr. Pomerantz sought to resurrect it in January 2021 maintaining there was evidence Mr. Trump committed serious crimes.
In his letters, Mr. Jordan described the book as an effort to pressure Mr Bragg into resurrecting a case that had been rejected by Mr. Vance and the Justice Department.
“Your actions, both as a prosecutor and since leaving the District Attorney’s Office cast serious doubt on the administration of fair and impartial justice in this matter,” Mr. Jordan wrote in the letters.
The Republican lawmaker noted that no new evidence or facts have emerged since the case was brushed aside in 2019.
“The only intervening factor, it appears, was President Trump’s announcement that he would be a candidate for President in 2024,” Mr. Jordan continued.
• Jeff Mordock can be reached at jmordock@washingtontimes.com.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.