Judge Juan Merchan has denied former President Trump’s request to subpoena Mark Pomerantz, a former prosecutor in the Manhattan District Attorney's office who left and then wrote a book.
Trump had sought various documents from Pomerantz during his time as a special assistant district attorney, including materials dating up until a month before Pomerantz left the DA's office. However, the judge deemed the requests as too broad and irrelevant, stating they amounted to an improper fishing expedition into general discovery.
Republicans have alleged bias on Pomerantz's part, claiming he politicized the investigation against Trump. The House Judiciary Committee released a report last month accusing the Manhattan DA's Office of allowing political motivations to influence its prosecutorial decisions.
The GOP-led committee published a 300-page report titled 'An Anatomy of a Political Prosecution: The Manhattan District Attorney’s Office Vendetta Against President Donald J. Trump.' Pomerantz testified before the committee but declined to answer most questions due to the ongoing investigation into Trump.
Pomerantz, a donor to Hillary Clinton's 2016 campaign, worked on the Trump investigation with ex-prosecutor Carey Dunne under former Manhattan DA Cyrus Vance. Both Pomerantz and Dunne resigned when District Attorney Alvin Bragg took over and expressed doubts about pursuing a case against Trump.
After resigning, Pomerantz wrote a book based on the investigation, suggesting a case against Trump should be pursued. The committee cited excerpts from Pomerantz's book, claiming it revealed his personal and political animosity towards Trump.
In his book, Pomerantz expressed enthusiasm for the investigation but admitted to having negative views of Trump. He stated that his involvement was not based on politics but acknowledged his lack of regard for the former president.
