Former Trump prosecutor Pomerantz refuses to reply House questions

A former prosecutor refused Friday to reply questions at a deposition by the House Judiciary Committee a couple of criminal investigation of Donald Trump by which he once played a number one role.

The Judiciary Committee, whose chairman Rep. Jim Jordan of Ohio is an in depth Republican ally of Trump, has been investigating whether the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office probe and charging of Trump was politically motivated.

The previous prosecutor Mark Pomerantz, in a gap statement prepared for his deposition and obtained by NBC News, called the Judiciary Committee’s demand for his testimony “an act of political theater.”

“Fortunately, I would not have to cooperate with the cynical histrionics that this deposition represents,” said Pomerantz.

He argued he had the precise to not answer questions in the event that they weren’t pertinent “to a legitimate legislative function.”

“We’re gathered here because Donald Trump’s supporters would really like to make use of these proceedings to try to obstruct and undermine the criminal case pending against him, and to harass, intimidate and discredit anyone who investigates or charges him,” Pomerantz said.

He also cited Trump’s recent criminal indictment in Recent York for allegedly falsifying business records related to a hush money payment as another excuse he wouldn’t answer questions on the probe.

“The fees against Mr. Trump ought to be heard and decided by a judge and a jury before politicians second-guess their merits or the choice to bring them,” Pomerantz said.

He added the DA’s office had instructed him to keep up the office’s claims of privilege and confidentiality to guard the integrity of the criminal case against Trump.

Pomerantz also cited his Fifth Amendment right under the Structure not to reply questions that could possibly be used against him in a possible criminal case.

He noted the DA’s office had warned him he could face criminal charges if he disclosed grand jury material, and that a lawyer for the DA had said a book he wrote concerning the Trump case “exposed [him] to criminal liability.” Pomerantz added he didn’t imagine he committed any crime.

Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., a committee member, told reporters later Pomerantz refused to reply any questions on the deposition.

“I’ve never had a more obstructive and fewer cooperative witness in my over 20 years in Congress,” Issa said, based on NBC News.

“I can let you know, with high confidence after doing this for over 20 years, this witness and the district attorney’s office … of Manhattan has absolutely no intention of allowing any cooperation with this committee,” he added.

Jordan later told a pool reporter that “I am unable to discuss what Mr. Pomerantz may or may not have said – just committee rules.”

“But I assume in some ways, I used to be surprised at among the positions he took,”Jordan said.

Asked if it was possible the committee would seek to carry Pomerantz in contempt of the subpoena, Jordan said, “We’ll talk with the team.” 

Pomerantz, when he left the committee room, said, “I actually have nothing, nothing in anyway to say.”

His lawyer Ted Wells said that Pomerant’s opening statement “may be very clear as to what happened.” 

The Judiciary Committee earlier this yr subpoenaed Pomerantz, who at one point was a top prosecutor within the DA’s investigation into Trump.

Pomerantz dramatically quit the DA’s office in early 2022, after the brand new district attorney, Alvin Bragg, decided to pause the probe.

On the time he resigned, Pomerantz said in a letter to Bragg there was “little doubt” Trump had committed crimes related to the valuation of real estate assets used to acquire loans, tax breaks and insurance coverage. Pomerantz went on to write down a book that contained details about his work within the investigation.

Bragg in late 2022 resurrected an inquiry into whether Trump had committed a criminal offense by misstating in business records the character of reimbursements and other money paid to his former lawyer and fixer Michael Cohen, after Cohen paid porn star Stormy Daniels $130,000 right before the 2016 presidential election.

Cohen paid Daniels to maintain her quiet about her claim of getting had sex with Trump one time years earlier. Trump denies having sex with Daniels.

Trump was indicted on the business records charges in late March. He has pleaded not guilty within the case, the primary criminal charges ever filed against a sitting or former U.S. president. The case will not be expected to go to trial until next yr on the earliest, when Trump shall be contesting for the 2024 GOP presidential nomination.

Bragg in April sued the Judiciary Committee in federal court in Manhattan to dam the subpoena to Pomerantz, calling it an “unprecedently brazen and unconstitutional attack” on the Trump investigation.

But on April 21, the DA and the panel reached an agreement that allowed Pomerantz to seem for his deposition Friday.

In his opening statement at that deposition, Pomerantz said he had “respect for the rule of law,” and “the rule of law requires a witness to seem for testimony in response to a subpoena.”

“What I don’t respect is using the Committee’s subpoena power to compel me to take part in an act of political theater,” he said.