The House GOP is now targeting two former prosecutors who resigned from the Manhattan district attorney’s office over the handling of its investigation into former President Trump.
Lawyer Mark Pomerantz and Carey Dunne sought to sue Trump in 2022 and resigned after Bragg rejected their legal theories.
But Bragg has since changed course – last week Trump announced he expected to be arrested this week, which didn’t happen.
Even before Bragg delivered his alleged indictment on Trump’s silent payments to porn star Stormy Daniels, Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan not only called on Bragg to testify and provide documents, but now to Pomerantz and Carey Dunne to do the same.
The House GOP is now targeting two former prosecutors who resigned from the Manhattan district attorney’s office over the handling of its investigation into former President Trump
Donald Trump sits in the back of his limo as he leaves the Trump International Golf Club in Palm Beach, Florida on March 23 – as the indictment looms
House Administration Chairman Bryan Steil and House Oversight Chairman James Comer also signed their names to a letter demanding Bragg’s testimony and the House GOP leadership signaled their support.
“Last year you resigned from office due to Bragg’s initial reluctance to press charges in 2022, Bragg is now attempting to ‘shoehorn’ the same case with identical facts in a new lawsuit,” wrote Jordan.
“Based on your unique role in this matter, we ask that you cooperate with our oversight of this prosecution decision,” the Ohio Republican continued.
Jordan concluded, “The totality of these facts is that Bragg’s impending indictment is politically motivated.”
“The facts of this case have not changed since 2018 and no new witnesses have emerged. The Justice Department reviewed the facts in 2019 and opted not to press charges at that time. Even still, according to reports, the investigation “has gained momentum this year” and Bragg’s office “convened a new grand jury in January to assess the matter.” The only intervening factor, it seems, was President Trump’s announcement that he would be running for president in 2024.’
And as House GOP leaders launch investigations even before Bragg’s alleged impeachment drops, some Senate Republicans are rolling their eyes.
While Republican senators shrugged off questions about the former president, the prevailing sentiment seemed to be, House goes House.
“The House will always do what the House wants to do,” South Dakota Senator Mike Rounds told DailyMail.com. “I won’t try to judge them and I hope they don’t judge us.”
Sen. Kevin Cramer, RN.D., expressed concerns more broadly about the House’s aggressive oversight program.
“You know the House is doing a lot of investigations,” he told DailyMail.com. “What worries me is that all of this gets in the way of bigger things that are more important to the American people.”
He also said the investigation “might be a bit premature” as no criminal charges against the former president have even been finalized.
Cramer continued:
‘It’s a bit of a game in progress, I just think it’s not very interesting for most people at a time when there’s so, so much uncertainty about their own personal circumstances, whether it’s if it’s a crime, or you know, fentanyl or south of the border or their paycheck, keeping up with inflation and their ability to buy a house or not buy a house because the mortgage rates are so high.
This is the latest example of lower house Republican leaders being former President Trump’s attack dogs and upper house Republicans groaning when Trump and his legal woes reappear in the news cycle.
Florida Sen. Rick Scott declined to say whether his home state’s governor should intervene on the former president’s behalf after Florida GOP Rep. Matt Gaetz insisted Ron DeSantis do exactly that. that.
Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg (pictured arriving at his office on Thursday) will not summon the grand jury for the silence case against Trump
The former president admitted to approving a $130,000 payment to porn star Stormy Daniels to settle what he called a “nuisance fee”, but denied the matter.
“Ron DeSantis should stand in the breach to prevent any sort of extradition of President Trump from the State of Florida,” Gaetz wrote on Twitter. “The fact that he doesn’t puts all Floridians at risk.”
Senator Lindsey Graham responded with a hasty “yes” when asked if he supported the House inquiry, but went no further.
“I hope they stick to the platform they ran on when they got the majority vote,” Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, told Punchbowl News.
Bragg is investigating whether Trump was involved in the silent payments his former attorney Michael Cohen sent to Daniels during the 2016 campaign.
An official confirmed to DailyMail.com that Bragg canceled the grand jury on Wednesday and Thursday. It remains unclear why the grand jury is not meeting for the rest of the week amid reports the panel is to hear from a final witness before rendering judgment.
Trump urged his supporters to take to the streets and protest as he still maintains complete innocence of any wrongdoing in the allegations. The former president admitted to approving a $130,000 payment to porn star Stormy Daniels to settle what he called a “nuisance fee”, but denied the matter.
But explosive new documents obtained by DailyMail.com show former Trump lawyer Michael Cohen claimed in a 2018 letter that he was not reimbursed by his client or his companies for the silent payments to Daniels. .
The letter to federal authorities could throw a wrench in the work of prosecutors seeking to pursue criminal charges against Trump over the payment.
Cohen, a star witness in the trial, claims Trump repaid him with personal funds. He later pleaded guilty to violating federal campaign finance law for hush money.
