A Trump-appointed judge has been put in the middle of the legal battle between Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, who led the investigations that resulted in former President Donald Trump being indicted, and Representative Jim Jordan, the chair of the House Judiciary Committee.
On Tuesday, Bragg filed a lawsuit against Jordan claiming that the subpoenas he has sent out were part of a “campaign to intimidate and attack” his office because of their indictment of former President Donald Trump. Trump was arraigned a week earlier in a Manhattan courtroom where he pleaded not guilty to 34 felony charges of falsifying business records.
The case related to the hush money payment made by his former attorney and fixer, Michael Cohen, on his behalf to adult film star Stormy Daniels ahead of the 2016 presidential campaign, in exchange for her silence over their alleged affair. Trump has repeatedly denied the affair and any wrongdoing related to this case.
Jordan has launched his own investigation into Bragg’s probe which has resulted in a number of subpoenas being sent out as part of the investigation. Former prosecutor Mark Pomerantz, who oversaw the investigation into Trump has received one of the subpoenas. Pomerantz resigned from his position following a disagreement with Bragg about Trump’s case. This subpoena led to Bragg filing the lawsuit.
The case is overseen by Trump-appointed Judge Mary Kay Vyskocil. Vyskocil was appointed to the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York in 2018 and was confirmed by the Senate the following year.
