“I think, ironically, the House Republicans on the Judiciary Committee are playing the same game of politics that they’ve accused the office of playing.”Ĭongressional Republicans have criticized Bragg’s investigation of the former president as evidence of his political bias, arguing that the district attorney’s pursuit of Trump stands in contrast to his liberal-leaning criminal justice policies for minor offenses.
“The office should not capitulate to people with special interests,” said Joan Vollero, who handled communications and intergovernmental affairs for Bragg’s predecessor, Cyrus Vance Jr. Though Bragg’s colleagues have said the first-term Democrat doesn’t have much of a taste for political warfare, his effort to combat the House inquiry received a warm reception from those interested in seeing the district attorney defend the institution. Kyle Cheney and Josh Gerstein and Jordain Carney The Pomerantz subpoena is the first one they have issued. The House GOP’s probe of Bragg’s investigation is led by Jordan (R-Ohio), Oversight Chair James Comer (R-Ky.) and Administration Chair Bryan Steil (R-Wis.). Judge Mary Kay Vyskocil, a Trump appointee, declined on Tuesday to issue an immediate order blocking the subpoena, and she scheduled an initial hearing for next Wednesday. The lawsuit says the Pomerantz subpoena violates “basic principles of federalism and common sense” and accuses the House GOP of infringing on Bragg’s authority and New York’s sovereign interests. “They know the cards that the House Republicans have to play in this situation,” Eric Soufer, who was a spokesman for Schneiderman during the Exxon case, said of Bragg and Dubeck.īragg’s lawsuit replicates many of the arguments that Dubeck made in the Exxon matter. The conflict ultimately fizzled when the subpoenas lapsed, but Bragg and Dubeck have now revived the strategy. The panel’s investigation, she wrote at the time, “oversteps the boundaries imposed by federalism” and violates New York’s sovereignty. She led the attorney general’s refusal to comply, and she prepared to either sue the House committee or defend the attorney general’s office if the committee took the matter to court. So Schneiderman’s office resisted.ĭubeck was the architect of Schneiderman’s approach. Bragg was a senior official in Schneiderman’s office, as was Leslie Dubeck, who was then counsel to the attorney general and is now Bragg’s general counsel.Ĭongressional interference with state and local prosecutors is unusual and raises delicate questions about the balance of power between Congress and the states. A GOP-controlled House panel accused Schneiderman of having a political agenda and served subpoenas seeking documents from the probe. At the time, New York’s attorney general, Democrat Eric Schneiderman, was investigating whether Exxon Mobil misled investors about the risks of climate change.
The lawsuit echoes legal arguments advanced in 20 in another subpoena fight on a hot-button issue.
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