Manhattan DA sues GOP’s Jim Jordan as feud escalates over Trump’s prosecution

Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg on Tuesday sued Republican Rep. Jim Jordan for what he known as an “unprecedentedly brazen and unconstitutional attack by members of Congress.”

The 50-page lawsuit alleges Jordan has introduced a “transparent campaign to intimidate and attack” on Bragg amid the historical indictment of former President Donald Trump.

Trump, who has again and again denied the costs in opposition to him, was once arraigned closing week and pleaded no longer responsible to 34 criminal counts of falsifying industry data within the first stage in an alleged hush cash “scheme” to steer the 2016 election.

Jordan, considered one of Trump’s largest supporters on Capitol Hill, has led the rate in opposition to Bragg along side different GOP chairs of influential House committees. The chairmen closing month demanded paperwork associated with Bragg’s investigation of Trump and testimony from the district lawyer himself.

Last week, Jordan subpoenaed Mark Pomerantz to present deposition associated with his position in investigating Trump and Trump’s companies. Pomerantz is a former prosecutor within the Manhattan district lawyer’s administrative center who resigned closing 12 months over Bragg’s reluctance on the time to pursue the case in opposition to Trump.

Bragg’s lawsuit seeks to forestall the enforcement of the subpoena, arguing “basic principles of federalism and common sense, as well as binding Supreme Court precedent, forbids Congress from demanding it.”

“Congress has no power to supervise state criminal prosecutions. Nor does Congress have the power to serve subpoenas for the personal aggrandizement of the investigators or to punish those investigated,” the lawsuit mentioned. “Yet that is precisely what Chairman Jordan is trying to do.”

The lawsuit accused Jordan and the House Republicans of “participating in a campaign of intimidation, retaliation, and obstruction” and noted how Trump “has threatened New York officials with violent and racist vitriol.”

The demanding back-and-forth between Bragg and Jordan had endured Monday as House Republicans introduced plans to carry a listening to on New York City crime in Bragg’s yard.

The House Judiciary Committee, chaired by Jordan, will hold a field hearing on April 17 in New York City to discuss “sufferers of violent crime in Manhattan.” There, lawmakers will examine what the committee called Bragg’s “pro-crime insurance policies” that have led to a “unhealthy group” for citizens, in line with a press release issued on Monday evening.

A spokesperson for Bragg’s administrative center temporarily shot back: “Don’t be fooled, the House GOP is coming to the most secure giant town in America for a political stunt. This listening to would possibly not interact exact efforts to extend public protection, such as supporting nationwide gun regulation and closing down the iron pipeline.”

The spokesperson also said New York City had a murder rate “just about thrice decrease” than that of Columbus, Ohio — Jordan’s home turf.

That information gave the impression to be pulled from Wirepoints, an Illinois- primarily based nonprofit, which found New York City had 5.2 homicides in step with 100,000 other folks when put next with Columbus’ 15.4 homicides in step with 100,000 citizens the usage of publicly to be had murder information for 2022.

Violent crime decreased during the first three months of this year, with shootings falling by 23% and homicides falling by 12.7% in the first quarter compared to the same period last year, the New York Police Department recently introduced.

“If Chairman Jordan really cared about public protection, he may take a brief force to Columbus, Dayton, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Akron, or Toledo in his house state, as an alternative of the usage of taxpayer greenbacks to commute masses of miles out of his approach,” the spokesperson for Bragg said.

Not lengthy after Bragg’s lawsuit was once filed, Jordan tweeted, “First, they indict a president for no crime. Then, they sue to dam congressional oversight once we ask questions concerning the federal budget they are saying they used to do it.”

ABC News’ Lauren Peller contributed to this report.