Alvin Bragg's former prosecutor pleads the fifth in congressional testimony over Trump indictment

Former Manhattan prosecutor Mark Pomerantz, who launched a criminal investigation into former President Donald Trump, testified before the House Judiciary Committee's deposition on Trump's controversial indictment on Friday and pleaded the fifth.

Pomerantz, an anti-Trump federal prosecutor that wrote a book about his criminal investigation into the President called People vs. Donald Trump: An Inside Account, slammed House Republicans for "political theater" in his opening statement and said he only showed up to the deposition because he "respects the rule of law" and then pleaded the fifth.


 

"What I do not respect is the use of the Committee’s subpoena power to compel me to participate in an act of political theater," Pomerantz’s statement reads. "This deposition is for show. I do not believe for a moment that I am here to assist a genuine effort to enact legislation or conduct legislative 'oversight.'"

"Fortunately, I do not have to cooperate with the cynical histrionics that this deposition represents," he added. "Although the rule of law compels me to be here, it does not require that I play a substantive role in your theatrical production. Under the law, I can decline to answer your questions for several reasons."

House rep. Darrell Issa (R-California) told Associated Press that Pomerantz answered zero questions, and appears unwilling to do so in the future.
 

"I think it’s very appropriate to say this is an obstructing witness who has no intention of answering any questions,” Issa told AP.

"The witness has not cooperated in any way, shape or form, as simply appeared and, I would characterize as taking the Fifth on every single question," he added, stating "he has answered no substantive questions whatsoever, and clearly appears unwilling to answer any questions even about previous statements he’s made."

Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) subpoened Pomerantz last month which required him to appear before the House Judiciary Committee to testify on his criminal investigation into former President Trump's hush money payments leading up to the 2016 presidential election.

Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg charged former President Donald Trump with 34 felonies in March, all regarding the alleged falsification of business records in relation to an alleged payout of $130,000 made by his former legal counsel Michael Cohen to porn star Stormy Daniels in 2016. Trump pleaded "not guilty" to all charges.

Bragg's office went to court battling the subpoena but a federal judge shot down Alvin Bragg's request, saying "no one is above the law" and found that the judiciary committee's subpoena was issued with "valid legislative purpose."

In Pomerantz's opening statement, the former prosecutor made it clear that he was only appearing before the committee to honor Bragg's request, according to The Hill.
 

"With formal charges now pending, the rule of law is best served if the merits of the case against Mr. Trump are litigated because the court that is hearing the case," he said. "This is neither the time nor the place for me to answer questions about the investigation or the pending indictment over the objection of the prosecutors."

"The charges against Mr. Trump should be heard and decided by a judge and a jury before politicians second-guess their merits or the decision to bring them," he continued. "That’s how our system works. Those who claim that they respect the rule of law should wait for the courts to do their work."

"While I am certain I broke no laws, I am not required to answer questions if my answers might be used against me in a criminal prosecution," he said.

"For all these reasons, I will not be answering questions that relate to my work in the DA’s office, my book, or public statements I have made in the past," he added. "It gives me no joy to invoke my legal rights, but I am glad that the law allows me not to cooperate with this performance of political theater."

Rep. Issa told AP, "we respect someone’s Fifth Amendment rights, but it’s very clear that this witness came with a clear intention of obstructing us."