In the face of yet another frenzied effort by the House GOP to torpedo Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s prosecution of Donald Trump, this time with a subpoena that would force former senior prosecutor Mark Pomerantz to reveal key internal details, Bragg filed a federal lawsuit against Ohio Rep. Jim Jordan and the Judiciary Committee he chairs. A judge should put an end to the harassment at once.
It seems like there’s been something of a misunderstanding on Jordan’s part; the Trump flunky seems to have interpreted his role as chairman of the Select Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government as a mandate not to investigate but to conduct such weaponization, and he’s gotten to that mission with gusto, using his other perch as judiciary chair.
Jordan himself can’t seem to articulate exactly what oversight function the committee is supposed to be engaged in, variously mewling about supposed election interference, asking for Bragg to provide a rationale for the case and complaining that Bragg’s office receives some federal funds.
He should at least be honest and upfront about the fact that these inquiries are really about one thing: damaging the ongoing legal case against Trump by both attacking the credibility — and, it should be noted, endangering the safety of — the prosecutor bringing the charges, and trying to force the release of privileged investigative information for the benefit not of the public but the Trump legal team.
No matter Jordan’s strained rationalizations, Bragg is right in his suit that Jordan’s demands are invalid, unenforceable, unconstitutional, and ultra vires, meaning beyond the legal authority of Congress. Furthermore, Bragg notes correctly that all grand jury matters are secret. The judge should need little time to accept Bragg’s arguments and quash Jordan’s extralegal attempts at intimidation, though Jordan should still feel free to come to NYC for his supposed hearing on crime. He might learn a thing or two about running a safe city that he can bring back to his much more dangerous cities in Ohio.
