Jim Jordan Was Just Schooled by Former New York Prosecutor: Kirschner

Former New York prosecutor Mark Pomerantz had harsh words recently for House Judiciary Chair Jim Jordan, according to legal analyst Glenn Kirschner on Saturday.

A veteran federal prosecutor for the U.S. Attorney's Office, Pomerantz in early 2021 joined the office of the Manhattan district attorney to assist with investigations into former President Donald Trump's businesses and finances. Those investigations ultimately led to the recent historic criminal indictment of Trump for allegedly orchestrating a hush-money scheme to adult film star Stormy Daniels ahead of the 2016 presidential election. Daniels claimed that she had an affair with Trump in 2006, which the former president has denied. However, Pomerantz had left the office in February 2022, citing frustrations with District Attorney Alvin Bragg's initial hesitance to pursue the case against Trump, despite what he saw as strong evidence.

In the wake of the district attorney's indictment, Jordan, an Ohio Republican noted for his support of Trump, announced that the House Judiciary Committee would be launching a probe into Bragg's office to determine whether or not the investigation into the former president was politically motivated.

To this end, the committee subpoenaed Pomerantz for testimony, but when the former prosecutor appeared to testify on Friday, he repeatedly invoked his Fifth Amendment rights and declined to answer questions about Bragg's probe. He also excoriated Jordan and his committee's investigation as "political theater."

"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,'" Pomerantz wrote in a statement provided to the committee. "We are gathered here because Donald Trump's supporters would like to use these proceedings to attempt to obstruct and undermine the criminal case pending against him, and to harass, intimidate, and discredit anyone who investigates or charges him."

In his own analysis of the statement, Kirschner, a veteran federal prosecutor who has been a frequent critic of Trump and is a columnist with left-leaning MSNBC, said that Pomerantz had schooled Jordan and the rest of the committee. He made particular note of comments Pomerantz made that seemed like veiled references to Jordan's past defiance of a congressional subpoena.

The Ohio Republican was previously called to testify before the House select committee investigating the January 6, 2021, Capital riot, which he did not comply with. Kirschner has frequently said that Jordan's defiance constituted a criminal act and highlighted the supposed hypocrisy of him now using subpoena power for his own investigation.

"[Pomerantz] called out Jim Jordan for unlawfully defying a congressional subpoena, blowing off a congressional subpoena," Kirschner said Saturday. "To be clear, that constitutes the crime of contempt of Congress. Yet now, the criminal is issuing subpoenas to others, expecting them to comply. I think that qualifies as irony, at a minimum."

In response to a Newsweek request for comment on Pomerantz's deposition, a spokesman for Jordan pointed to a House Judiciary GOP tweet citing comments from U.S. District Judge Mary Kay Vyskocil, who ruled that the committee's subpoena could go ahead despite legal pushback from Bragg.

"Mark Pomerantz's subpoena 'was issued with a 'valid legislative purpose' in connection with the 'broad' and 'indispensable' congressional power to 'conduct investigations,'" the tweet read.

Updated, 05/15/2023, 3:04 p.m. ET: This article has been updated with a response from Jordan's spokesman.