Lawyers for House Republicans and the Manhattan district attorney’s office are set to square off before a federal judge Wednesday over a subpoena seeking testimony about the indictment of former President Donald Trump.
Last week Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, a Democrat, sued Jim Jordan, the chair of the Republican-led House Judiciary Committee, to block a congressional subpoena to a former prosecutor, alleging the lawmakers are engaged in a “transparent campaign to intimidate and attack” the DA’s office.
Bragg asked the judge for a temporary restraining order or preliminary injunction to block this subpoena and any future subpoenas to him or other current or former prosecutors.
The lawsuit followed weeks of heated exchanges between Jordan and Bragg leading up to and following the indictment of Trump on 34 felony counts of falsifying business records that was allegedly done to coverup a hush money payment to adult film actress Stormy Daniels to stop her from going public about an alleged affair a decade earlier. Trump has denied the affair and pleaded not guilty to the charges.
The clash between federal and state powers began in March when Jordan asked Bragg’s office for documents and communications after news organizations reported that Bragg’s office was moving closer to seeking to indict Trump. Jordan called it an “unprecedented abuse of prosecutorial authority.” Bragg’s office has alleged that a Trump attorney worked behind the scenes to enlist help from allies in Congress and called Jordan’s inquiry into the ongoing criminal investigation an unconstitutional and “unprecedented inquiry into a local prosecution.”
Bragg’s lawsuit describes Jordan’s efforts as “a direct threat to federalism and the sovereign interests of the State of New York.”
Lawyers for Jordan and the committee said they are…
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