The House Judiciary Committee will continue to seek answers from Democrat Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg on his “bizarre” prosecution of former President Donald Trump, U.S. Representative Scott Fitzgerald (R-WI-05) says.
Fitzgerald, a member of the powerful committee, said Bragg’s decision to drop his lawsuit against the Republican-led Judiciary Committee is a victory for the committee and its chairman, U.S. Representative Jim Jordan (R-OH-04).
“I think the back and forth that we saw between DA Bragg and Chairman Jordan is significant. It’s precedent setting in determining whether or not a local prosecutor can actually elevate a case,” Fitzgerald told WISN-TV’s Upfront on Sunday. “It was pretty clear Jim Jordan won that lawsuit tit for tat. I think it’s now on the radar screens of the judiciary.”
Bragg, a highly partisan prosecutor who campaigned on going after Trump, dropped his lawsuit after the two sides reached a “settlement agreement” late last week allowing the Judiciary Committee to interview Mark Pomerantz, a former prosecutor who investigated the former president. A federal judge previously declined to stop the committee’s subpoena calling Pomerantz to testify.
The complete terms of the settlement were not made public, but the agreement will allow Bragg’s office to participate in the deposition. Pomerantz worked in the Manhattan DA’s office before leaving and writing a book about his investigation of Trump. He’s scheduled to testify on May 12, according to Jordan’s office.
Last month, a Manhattan grand jury indicted Trump, who was subsequently arrested on multiple counts of a felony fraud charge related to a hush-money payment to porn star Stormy Daniels. The payment reportedly was made before the 2016 presidential election to silence public disclosure of an alleged affair.
Constitutional law expert Hans von Spakovsky believes the unprecedented case, which attempts to extend the statute of limitations on a state misdemeanor and transform it into a felony federal election crime, is legally “dubious” and motivated by political ambition.
Von Spakovsky, head of the conservative Heritage Foundation’s Election Law Reform Initiative and a former member of the Federal Election Commission, told Just the News that Bragg is going after Trump for alleged federal election crimes that are not within his jurisdiction.
“No local state prosecutor has the authority to enforce federal campaign finance crimes in the first place,” he told the publication. “There’s just nothing from a factual and legal standpoint to this case. But I don’t think this prosecutor cares about that. What he’s counting on is that he’s in Manhattan. Manhattan is one of the most liberal jurisdictions in the country. I think he believes that he can get a liberal jury to convict Trump, no matter what the facts are and no matter what the law is.”
Fitzgerald said Bragg’s attempt to extend state powers into federal domain will be closely watched.
“I keep thinking, we’ve got 72 DAs in Wisconsin and if one of them was going to launch off into suing an elected official at the federal level, there would be a ton of pushback,” the congressman told Upfront./i>
Will the partisan prosecutor eventually testify before the Judiciary Committee.
“He was invited,” Fitzgerald said. “It’s something I think would be wise for him to do.”
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M.D. Kittle is the National Political Editor for The Star News Network.
Photo “Scott Fitzgerald” by Leah Herman, House Creative Services. Photo “Donald Trump” by Trump White House Archived. Photo “Alvin Bragg” by Alvin Bragg. Background Photo “Courtroom” by Carol M. Highsmith.
