What are House Republicans thinking?
On Friday, there was an agreement between House Republicans and the Manhattan district attorney’s office to resolve a legal conflict regarding a House Judiciary Committee investigation into the indictment of former President Donald Trump.
According to WPBF, as part of the resolution, committee members will have the opportunity to ask former prosecutor Mark Pomerantz questions under oath in Washington next month. This settles a lawsuit that District Attorney Alvin Bragg had filed to prevent Pomerantz from testifying.
As part of the committee’s agreement, Pomerantz will have a lawyer from Bragg’s office accompanying him during the deposition. This is not a usual practice for Congressional depositions and represents a concession made by the committee.
The agreement between Bragg’s office and the Judiciary Committee was reached following a stay issued on Thursday by the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. This stay temporarily prevented the enforcement of a House subpoena that had demanded Pomerantz’s testimony.
Prior to the agreement, the appeals court was set to hear oral arguments on Tuesday regarding the ongoing dispute.
According to Bragg’s office, the agreement which delays Pomerantz’s testimony until May 12th, protects the district attorney’s “privileges and interests” in the ongoing Trump prosecution.
“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,” Bragg 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 timeframe. We are gratified that the Second Circuit’s ruling provided us with the opportunity to successfully resolve this dispute,” Bragg added.
After a lower court judge ruled on Wednesday that there was no legal justification for blocking the Judiciary Committee’s subpoena and that Pomerantz’s deposition must proceed as planned, Bragg filed an appeal with the 2nd Circuit.
As part of the agreement, Bragg withdrew his appeal.
Russell Dye, who is a spokesperson for the committee chair Rep. Jim Jordan, an Ohio Republican, mentioned in a statement that “Mr. Pomerantz’s deposition will take place on May 12th, and we are anticipating his appearance.”
Pomerantz was previously in charge of the years-long Trump investigation but left the position after a disagreement with Bragg regarding the case’s direction. He has recently published a book about his efforts in pursuing Trump and has discussed the investigation in interviews on several shows, including “60 Minutes.”