House Republicans, Manhattan district attorney's office reach deal over Trump inquiry
CBC
House Republicans and the Manhattan district attorney's office reached an agreement on Friday to end a legal dispute over a House judiciary committee inquiry into former U.S. president Donald Trump's historic indictment.
Under the agreement, committee members will be able to question former prosecutor Mark Pomerantz under oath next month in Washington, resolving a lawsuit in which District Attorney Alvin Bragg had sought to block Pomerantz from testifying.
Among the committee's concessions, Pomerantz will be accompanied by a lawyer from Bragg's office, which is not typically allowed in congressional depositions.
Bragg's office and the judiciary committee reached the agreement after the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit issued a stay on Thursday that temporarily halted enforcement of a House subpoena that had called for Pomerantz to testify.
The appeals court had been scheduled to hear oral arguments in the dispute on Tuesday.
Bragg's office said the agreement, delaying Pomerantz's testimony until May 12, preserves the district attorney's "privileges and interests" in his ongoing Trump prosecution.
"Our successful stay of this subpoena blocked the immediate deposition and afforded us the time necessary to co-ordinate with the House judiciary committee on an agreement that protects the district attorney's privileges and interests," Bragg's office said in a statement.
"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 time frame. We are gratified that the Second Circuit's ruling provided us with the opportunity to successfully resolve this dispute."
Bragg had appealed to the Second Circuit after a lower-court judge ruled on Wednesday that there was no legal basis to block the judiciary committee's subpoena and that Pomerantz's deposition must go forward as scheduled.
Under the agreement, Bragg withdrew his appeal.
Russell Dye, a spokesperson for committee chair Rep. Jim Jordan, an Ohio Republican, said in a statement, "Mr. Pomerantz's deposition will go forward on May 12, and we look forward to his appearance."
Pomerantz once oversaw the years-long Trump investigation but left the job after clashing with Bragg over the direction of the case. He recently wrote a book about his work pursuing Trump and discussed the investigation in interviews on 60 Minutes and other shows.
Bragg, a Democrat, sued Jordan and the judiciary committee last week seeking to block the subpoena. His lawyer, Theodore Boutrous, argued that seeking Pomerantz's testimony was part of a "transparent campaign to intimidate and attack" Bragg and that Congress was "invading a state" to investigate a local prosecutor when it had no authority to do so.
Boutrous said House Republicans' interest in Bragg amounted to Congress "jumping in and haranguing the D.A. while the prosecution is ongoing."